


Where Fire Burns and Cast Shadows and the Blood Flows Freely

by CrossBladeWing



Series: Pieces of You [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Times Ahead, Blood and Gore, Dad Grillby, Dad W. D. Gaster, GB Papyrus, GB Sans, Halloween, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Papyrus Knows More Than He Lets On, Past MonsterHuman War, Post-Pacifist Route, Reader has blood magic, Reader-Insert, Stalking, Translations for L337/Gaster talking, Veteran Asgore, Veteran Gaster, Veteran Gerson, Veteran Grillby, Veteran Reader, Veteran Toriel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-05-25 16:05:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6201892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossBladeWing/pseuds/CrossBladeWing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After all this time, the war--the fight never left you.</p><p>Magic was the source of all dispute.<br/>Blood: the price they paid for it<br/>Pain:  the consequence for it<br/>Dust:  the price THEY paid for it.<br/>Death: ...all that remained in the end.</p><p>THEY were imprisoned.</p><p>Now THEY’re free.</p><p>What will you do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What it is you seek

**Author's Note:**

> the other fic i said i was writing about. wanted to post it to see what people thought
> 
> i'll find out in about 12 hours
> 
> enjoy!

_You stood amongst the corpses and the dust. The bodies--some have limbs missing, others are decapitated, some have torsos missing, gaping holes in others, arrows poking out of arms and legs and necks and heads, swords plunged through chests, embedded in shoulders or sides, quivers strapped to backs; swords in hands, clubs, broken shields lay on lifeless arms, armor and chain-mail and cloth torn and dented or burning in the fires-- lay littered around you. The dust, and clothes and armor and weapons of monsters, blew away on the wind, as you collect blood of the fallen._

_Rivers and streams of red poured out of the bodies, along the ground, collecting dust, and gathered under you in a puddle, then a pool, then arching up in individual streams, curling and twisting around you like red snakes through the air, red drops floating amongst them._

_Behind you._

_You turn and come face to point with an arc of a flaming white sword, you dodge away and send waves of blood at it, shaping spears and throw them at him, he burns them away, red and grey armor torn and broken, burgundy cape ragged as it flew behind him._

_He slashed and hacked at you, but your blood was always in the way, you both kicked up the dust and the bodies burned around you._

_You shaped the blood in your hands into a tight ball and throw it, catching him on the side of his helmet, knocking it off._

_You face the fire and then freeze in place. His f a c e IS all f l a m e s._

**Then suddenly the scene changes and you’re in the middle of some dark corridor, but you weren’t alone...something dark and cold behind you grabs your attention.**

**You turn around and came face to face with a masked-white face, eyes cracked and a white face-splitting smile, noise and static fills your ears as your vision blurs and statics out like an old TV, as skeletal hands with holes through the palms reach around and grasp your neck.**

You open your eyes to a chipped white ceiling, dusty brick walls and old wood floors, and dirty windows. You let out a sigh as you get up from your old mattress on the floor, readjusting the bandages that covered your arms and most of your fingers, then you pull your hood up and slip on the mask you’d left at the bedside drawer, next to the old lamp.

You pass the darkened window of your room, a figure in red passed by where you should be and you look over at it again, but only see a figure in a ragged hooded vest, ripped khaki pants, and old sneakers--hood up to conceal their hair and a cracked white facemask with two eyeholes and two thick red streaks coming from the holes.

You’d made your mask years and years ago, it was perfect to hide you, but also served as a reminder.

Not that you could forget.

Seeing your reflection made you remember your dream, a creature with cracked sockets(one of them drooped), a permanent smile, and black gooey body.

On the rare times you did sleep you dreamed of that thing--Him. He was the reason you’d stopped trying to sleep. That--Him and the flashes you’d get of the battlefield and the burning knight.

You look to the wrapped bundle in the corner of your room, thick burlap and twine, leaning against the wall.

You walk to the doorway and leave the room.

You walk to the spiral stairs standing on the overhanging railing to the floor below.

It was so empty, dusty, and old before. Now look at it.

You leapt over the railing and landing with barely a sound on the floor below in an elegant crouch. You look around, the kitchen cabinets were painted blue and patterns of clear blue and green tiles mixed with the white of the walls, pots hung by the island counter, plants hung in various places from the kitchen to the sitting area, which consisted of a couch and two stuffy chairs, a large fireplace roared with blue and green flames.

Bookshelves lined the wall from the fireplace to the back of the house, under the stairs lined the wall next to a bedroom. The witch’s room. The bed was simple, white blankets and woven quilts, books and papers on the desk. On the walls not taken up by bookshelves hung old paintings and crystals and charms and hooks for hats and keys.

Was it always so quiet? Usually the witch would be brewing tea by now--you stop. 

The witch...She died shortly after the barrier fell, when you both felt that old magic shatter like glass, reverberating through the town. You remember how astonished the two of you were when it happened.

Then she collapsed.

You stayed at her bedside for days, nothing helped--not magic, not potions, not tea--she just started deteriorating, but the strange thing was that she was happy. 

SO So happy. 

You didn’t understand--well that was a lie. But you didn’t want to think about that.

You won’t forget her last words as she cradled your face in her old withered hand, the first and last time she ever touched you.

_“You’ve been through so much, seen more than any child should, done things no child should. This you know, as do I...” She heaved a breath before continuing, that mysterious smile across her face once more, her shining green eyes twinkling._

_“Find the child who speaks in hands, they will bring you to whom you’ve always been seeking.” Her voice was barely a whisper, then her eyes slipped closed and you grasped her hand as it slipped from her face._

She always did get the last word.

The faint moonlight that came in through the windows, catches one of the metal manacles on your wrists. Solid, thick but surprisingly light. Sometimes you forgot you even had them, you’d been used to having them. You touch the one around your neck. You walk to one of the windows and open just large enough for you to slip through and onto an old metal fire escape.

The night air in somewhat warm and clouds block out the night sky, rolling across the moon. You climb up and onto the roof of your building.

You were in an old part of what was once a human town, but now a mostly-monster town since the barrier fell. This building was still empty, and you’d made sure it would stay that way. You set up wards and spells and everything to keep it hidden. To mortal or monster eyes where this building stood was an empty lot between buildings in the old part of town.

Her words echo in your head as you stand on the roof.

They are what have kept you out of the building, searching as she said you should. 

“Child who spoke in hands”...a child--monster children...didn’t all have hands, you observed this when you saw a little yellow lizard monster in a yellow and brown striped sweater run down around in a park and fell down on his face a lot.

You’d only ever gone out and watched from the rooftops, or the branches of trees or in dark hidden corners, the coming and goings of the monsters. You watched their conversations, read their words, interpreted meanings, understood gestures and slight changes in faces, but they were not what you were looking for.

You couldn’t bring yourself to go farther than the very outskirts of the town the monsters inhabited either. Every time you got closer your body would stop, unwilling to go farther in--even if you wanted to.

You felt like you couldn’t--shouldn’t.

You couldn’t bring yourself to travel during the day either. You were noticeable, especially during the daylight so you only came out at night when it was dark.

You could easily hide if you had to.

You looked to the faint lights of the town where the monsters stayed. You wonder if you’ll find “whom you’ve always been seeking”...

You aren’t sure who she was talking about but you had a feeling she was right--you had been seeking something...someone? You couldn’t remember.

But the witch had never been wrong before... and it was the last order she gave you.

You take a deep breath and hop up onto the edge of the roof, then crouch and jump high into the air, high into the deep midnight sky and the millions of twinkling stars, the crescent moon above you.

You had a child to find.


	2. The children of your past present and future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you found them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm 2/3 done with editing BTS and you should see a new chapter sometime next week.
> 
> :D
> 
> I have this one for those of you who want to read this in the meantime~
> 
> thank you for your 22 kudos and 215 hits :D

You’re jumping from rooftop to rooftop, not even making the slightest noise.

The night is quiet. The town dark...mostly.There are bright lights coming from a few buildings farther into the town. You were closer to the the main part of town, almost past the old brick buildings and concrete warehouses, when you hear struggling and for the first time in a long time the crackle and static of monster magic, then ever so slightly the smell of fresh blood.

Maybe you should’ve went hunting the previous night--you were hungry.

You immediately head towards the sounds of the scuffle, coming to a wide alley between two abandoned buildings--boarded up and a heavy smell of rotting wood and dusty stone-- you were perched on the edge of the roof, a cloud passed over the moon and taking with it the light.

You didn’t need it to see because down below, lying on the ground was a monster made up of green fire.Their flames cast long shadows of the men surrounding them and a small human child stood in front of them, blocking the men’s way to them.

The smell of blood was faint, but it was coming from them. Minor cuts and bruises on their arms and face. It smelled sweet, almost too sweet, but there was a twinge of sour in it. The men didn’t smell as good, too heavy and thick bitter and musky. 

The men were talking.

“---stupid little **** aren’t ya kid?” “--let’s just dust the monster already!” That made you bristle, but not as much as when the kid shook their head and the men descended upon them like beasts against prey. The child dodged as best they could, but the men got in hits with fists and wooden bars and knives, one of them slammed the child into the brick and the kid fought against his hold, only to go slack when they were slammed against it again.

That made your blood boil and excited to smell the blood...You grit your teeth. NO--not again. You jumped down and landed squarely on the back of one of the men. There was a crunch and he lay still of the ground.

“What the f--”

You didn’t give the other men a chance to react when they turned your way. You grabbed the nearest one and slammed him into two of the others. You yanked the wooden bar from one of the men’s hands and smashed him across the face with it. He crumpled.

One of the men with knives lunged for you, but you easily twisted around him and used his weight to flip him onto his back, knocking the wind out of him. You dodge another knife from behind by side stepping, but you slammed your foot down on his arm and you saw it break. He wailed in agony until you kicked him in the face.

The last man, standing dove for the child and the monster, seeing he probably couldn’t beat you but you got in his way in a flash and slammed your fist into his gut. He went flying into the opposite wall. 

Three of the men got up again, from when you’d thrown them, cursing and diving at you, but you easily dodged their attacks and swiftly knocked two of them in the gut, curling them over and the last one got kicked in the chest and went skidding down the alley.

It was quiet again. The men would have to do...

\- - - -

Frisk was fading in and out of consciousness. Their ears rang and their headed pounded and their vision was blurry. They could still see the faint flicker of green flames, Fuku, but something else was there something brown, white, and faded black/dark brown... There were faint thuds and crashes and yelling that made Frisk’s head hurt all the more.

They blacked out again.

When they partially woke up the figure was standing in front of them, their face was white with two red lines. Frisk tried to sign [Help] to them and they came closer, crouching before them. Whoever they were they weren’t touching them or trying to hurt them. 

Chara also wasn’t saying anything. That was different.

The felt their phone ring in their pocket and they felt the stranger take it and answer. Frisk tries to sign [Alley with Fuku. Help] but they fall unconscious once more.

\- - - -

The green flame monster was already unconscious, flames dim. You saw several empty buckets of water near them. The thought made you angry and you wanted nothing more than to go back to the men and beat them into an inch of their lives or maybe you’d just kill them--You shake your head at yourself. 

Where was this coming from? Why did they look familiar to you? That was impossible.

The child stirred, their slit-eyes looking at you. The slowly moved their hands in a slow sequence of motions. “Find the child who speaks in hands...”

Well you’d found them and a green fire monster.

You crouched down near them both, not sure what you should do. The smell of blood was still there, you grit your teeth in your mouth against the smell. Then you hear phones ringing one in a book-bag near the green fire monster and one in the pocket of the child’s pants.

You take the child’s phone, it says “Sans”. You tense up, but somehow you answer the call, your finger on the green button to answer before you know it. 

“frisk?! where are ya?! Is fuku with you?!” 

His voice is deep and panicked, but that’s not what concerns you at the moment. “Sans”...”Fuku”...you knew those names--you guessed “Frisk” was the human child’s name--You KNEW them.

The memories crash into your head all at once, you clutch your head at the pain--A tiny green flame in the shape of a baby in your arms, reaching for you--A small skeletal puppy blinking it’s eyes up at you before turning into a baby skeleton with one glowing blue eye--

No. **NO.** **_It couldn’t be!_** \--You looked at the flame monster--It was... “They will bring you to whom you’ve always been seeking.” 

You shake your head in disbelief and awe as you look down at the phone, it’s gone silent, but the child is still making hand motions at you, until they go limp once more. You could hear the beat of blood pulsing in their veins.

This is what the witch wanted you to find? Wanted you to know? Your mind races with questions, but the green monster’s fire crackles. She stirs.

“stay where you are. i’m coming to get you.” Sans’s voice comes low and dangerous over the phone. You don’t have the time to act. You needed to go, but before you do you press a finger into one of the bleeding cuts on the child and quickly draw something on the wall before leaving, just as you feel the crackle and static of familiar magic in the air.

\- - - - 

Sans teleports to where his phone told him Frisk’s phone was--he reminded himself to thank Alphys for adding this feature in later. Frisk and fuku lay at his feet, unconscious. It made Sans growl in anger. Toriel was going to kill him. 

Then he saw Fuku--scratch that-- BOTH Toriel and Grillby were going to kill him. Fuku’s fire was dim and flickering low, buckets of water lay on the ground close to her.

He pulled over his jacket and wrapped it around her. She stirred and grumbled. 

“...Sans?...” She asked quietly.

“yeah” it’s me fuku.” He said lowly.

“...Frisk?...” 

“they’ll be ok fuku. go to sleep.” She falls unconscious again.

Sans crouches down by Frisk and picks them up gently, the kid’s all beat up. He looks around the alley, there are signs of a fight. There’s a broken wooden beam on the ground as well a a few knives with traces of blood still on them, but there’s no one around. Sans doesn’t want to stick around, Frisk and Fuku needed Toriel and if Sans saw the guys who did this...

**_He wouldn’t give them Mercy._ **

So he picks them and their things up with his magic and walks through one of his shortcuts to the house.

If he’d searched around the alley some more he’d find a pile of unconscious men tucked away in another alley.

If he looked at the wall close-by where Frisk and Fuku were he’d have seen a symbol written in Frisk’s blood on the brick.

If he’d looked up he’d have seen them, crouched on the edge of the building looking down at him, fresh blood on their clothes.

\- - - -

Sans was older. He wore a blue hoodie, a white shirt, blue sneakers, and black pants with stripes down the sides. His smile was sharp with his fangs and his flashing blue and yellow left eye, vaguely you wonder how Papyrus had grown...and if anything if **HE** was still around.

Fuku was much older as well. She still felt the same; kind and warm, even asleep. _He_ was orange and yellow, bright hot and sharp...

You watch as Sans disappears in a flash of blue, taking Fuku and the human child Frisk with him.

You look up to the sky at the moon and stars, peeking out behind clouds. It was time to go back. You had some thinking to do and some blood to wash off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't going to be as slow as BTS...hopefully who knows?
> 
> leave me comments please? :)


	3. Something Important

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is important

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY PI DAY!! Or HAPPY WHITE DAY!! (ya nerds and /or anime geeks)
> 
> i got 393 hits and 35 kudos~~ :3
> 
> enjoy these dream sequences!!!

_Frisk opened their eyes to yellow flowers._

_A child sat by them.They looked exactly like Frisk, except for the paler skin--compared to Frisk’s golden skin--rosy cheeks, brown pants and green and yellow sweater--compared to Frisk’s blue and pink striped one._

_Chara sat next to them cross-legged. Their face was contemplative, their rosy cheeks in both of their hands as they leaned forward, elbows on their knees._

_Frisk sat up and Chara broke from their thoughts._

What happened? _Frisk signed to them._

_“We were rescued by some person in a mask.” They replied, but that wasn’t all they were telling them._

What’s wrong Chara? What else was there? _They asked._

_“I need to talk to Asriel. This is important Frisk. I’m not sure if I’m right and if I am this...this could be trouble.”_

_They’d never seen Chara look so serious before. This must be important._

_How long have I been out? They asked._

_“You’ll find out soon. You’re waking up right now.” Chara said. “Remember we need to talk to Asriel. Alone.”_

Frisk woke up.

\- - - -

Fuku was dreaming...it’s a dream she had once in awhile.

_She was an outside observer to one of her earliest memories._

_She was just a tiny flame in the arms of her father, wrapped in a blanket in his arms by a fireplace._

_“Fuku” he said. “Your name will be Fuku.”_

_He would start singing and old song, but through the middle of it he would always start crying, molten tears then, clutching her tiny body close and she reached up for his face, only for the dream to shift when he looked up._

_Then it changed._

_She was in the middle of a battlefield, human corpses and dust littered the ground._

_She was held in the arms of something else--someone else. A tatter red hood and cloak and a mask. A white mask with two red streaks from the eyes. Her smaller self reached up and touched one of the streaks._

_Her father knelt up, kept up by his sword in the ground, armor broken and dented. He lunged forward and took her away from the arms of the stranger._

_He runs his sword straight through their chest. They collapse to the floor and he turns away, wrapping her in the red cloth of his cape as he runs away with her, away from the battlefield, away from the red stranger._

_She watched them go in horror, hoping she’ll wake up from the dream, when the stranger gets up and pulls the sword from their chest and then turn to where she’s standing._

_Then suddenly they’re right in her face._

_“Wake up.”_

Fuku wakes up.

\- - - -

It was this nightmare again...

_He was tied up and restrained with anti magic chains. He hung two pillars in the circular room, stained glass window at his back, curtained windows at his sides, a magic circle written in dust and blood on the floor below him._

_“Today is the day we Dust you, Reaper. And once your precious fellow vermin see your Dust There will nothing in our way. There will be no Hope for you.” One of the black-cloaked human mages said. Their staff held at their side._

_Other soldiers and mages snickered. All except for one. A small mage in a red cloak and white mask, the only one in red, was brought to the mage in black._

_“Kill him. He will be your first true test. Once you dust him. You will finally be ready to fight, my pet.” There’s a red glow around their neck._

_A soldier burst in through the double doors._

_“My lord! The monsters are attacking!!!”_

_“WHAT?” The mage in black cried. ___

___“Curse these foul beasts! They think they can rescue their Reaper, eh? HA.” He swept from the room, his staff glowing, preparing a spell._ _ _

___“Mages to battle! Soldiers, make sure my pet does their job.” He orders and soon all that are left are soldiers._ _ _

___Gaster glares down at the little red mage._ _ _

_They look to the soldiers and back to him._

**“1’m 50rRy.”** _Is all they say before a red spear appears in their hands. Instead of aiming straight for his soul though they aim at his hands in their restraints._

_Gaster feels it as their spear pierces through his left hand, his face cracks under his left socket. He screams. His soul had a hole in it. Then they pierce his right hand, another crack in his skull above his right socket. His soul has another hole in it. His HP drops, but something is flowing into him something red...His blue and orange soul turns purple and red._

_His chains break and the circle is broken._

_He falls._

_...Nothing but darkness..._

_He “wakes up” in a cave, with two tiny skeleton children sleeping on his ribcage._

_He knows who they are--what they are._

_They wake up when he rests a hand on his skulls, the left eye of one of them glows blue blue and the right eye of the other glows orange._

**“My ch1lDr3n...”**

Gaster wakes up in his lab, having fallen asleep on his reports at his desk. He sighs and runs a hand over his skull. He looks at both of his hands, the holes in his palms and clenches them into fists.

\- - - -

_He had found them standing among the corpses of fallen human soldiers and all that was left of his battalion...nothing but dust. A mage claoked in red and a white mask with a single red line coming down from one of the mask's eyeholes._

_He attacked them first, in rage and despair. They were always just out of reach, the red magic of theirs making it easy for them to maneuver around his strikes---his fire he lost his shield, sword in hand he struck, but they stuck at his helmet and once it came off and he saw them stop. All of the human soldiers and mages stopped in fear of his appearance._

_There was a reason he was called “Hellfire” or “Inferno”._

_They were distracted. He lunged at them, grabbing them by their collar, burning them, but he poised his sword at their chest. They stabbed him through a chink in his chest plate, but he was trying to burn them to ash, just like they did to his soldiers._

_“Burn in hell - - - -!”_

_But they wouldn’t burn, no matter how hot he burned, something was protecting them from his fire._

_They didn’t scream, only struggled in his hold, a single red trail of blood coming down from the other eyehole in their mask, making it as if they were crying tears of blood. He thrust his sword through their chest snarling, but they still didn’t react, even though he was sure he was burning them from the inside out--until he felt something inside him break away._

_They broke from his hold--he felt something enter him-- and a small green flame flew to their chest, healing the wound he gave them, a tiny hand reached for them._

_He understood. Once they looked up at him again he lunged forward, stabbing them through the chest and taking the baby, he turned tail and ran._

Grillby woke up, Fuku’s hand still in his.

“Dad?” She called.

He gripped her hand tighter.

He wasn’t going to let go.

\- - - -

_You pierced him through both of his hands and his restraints, gritting your teeth and only letting a single tear fall. He screams as cracks appear above his right socket and below his left._

_He was dying...you wouldn’t let him. You poured your own magic into the holes you left in his hands._

_How you wanted to scream, but if you had any chance of getting him out of there alive then---!!_

_You turn and quickly dig your nails into your palms, drawing blood, forming your blood into two swords before sprinting at the soldiers and killing one with stabs through his chest, another by cutting off his head, and another with deep gashes to his chest, the last tried to run but you flung out a tentacle of blood and ran his through the neck._

_You turn around and he’s lying on the broken spell circle, among his broken chains. Two little skeleton puppies at his side, sniffing him._

_One of them looks at you and then shifts into a tiny skeleton child with one glowing blue eye. The other changes into another skeleton child with one glowing orange eye. You hear soldiers coming. You grab the little skeletons and sling him across your back, you hold the children in one arm and hold him to you with the other._

_You run._

~ ~ ~ ~

_You feel the magic binding you to the mage fade, the spell circle on your chest glows and then fades...He’s gone...finally gone..._

_But it’s already too late..._

_You stood amongst the corpses of fallen soldiers and in the dust of fallen monsters..._

_You’re so tired...so HUNGRY...You gather blood to you without a thought._

_A monster. Behind you._

_He attacks. You Dodge. You Fight. His helmet comes off...You stop...you knew this monster.“Hellfire” “Inferno”... but that wasn’t all..._

_He grabs you and you felt his magic burn you. You stab him, a slew of memories flood your mind. You’d stabbed into his core._

_He speaks...NO...You knew that voice...you knew his face...you knew HIM._

_You stabbed his core. He was going to die. You weren’t going to let him._

_Another tear goes down your mask, permanently marking it forever with it’s twin._

_You jerk away from him and catch the ball of green fire that leaps at you. You know he absorbed your magic...you felt it.A tiny green flame monster...your wounds close as the little one reaches for your face.But then she’s taken from you and you are stabbed once again through the chest with a sword._

_He takes the baby and runs and you reach out a hand towards his retreating form as you fall._

You open your eyes.

You sit up in your bed, you’d fallen asleep with the mask on.

You take it off and trace your fingers over the red lines...

You look out a window...the sun was rising.

If their children were still alive...maybe **they** were too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> was it good was it bad?
> 
> did you understand ANY of that?
> 
> leave me a comment!!


	4. An Old Flame and Old Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> our main men for the fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp here ya go. some context on what's going on

Sans took Fuku and Frisk back to the mansion teleporting right into the front room. This place, their “home”, amazed him still. Their gold was worth a lot Aboveground apparently. They’d gotten this mansion built in less than a month. 

It had several suites for him and Papyrus, Toriel and Frisk and Asgore, Undyne and Alphys, Gaster, and even had individual little rooms for everyone personally, like an Underground lab for Alphys, Gaster, and occasionally Sans to work in, a training room for Undyne and Papyrus, and a small library for Toriel, and a greenhouse for Asgore. They even had several guest rooms for no one in particular.

It was mostly stone work on the outside with big windows, some of them stained glass- just like the ones in the Castle Underground...well actually it’s like they built a smaller-version of it just for them.

Each suite had it’s own set of bathrooms depending on how many people were living there, it’s own kitchen and number of rooms as well as a small living room. And each was modeled after a section of the underground. Sans and Papyrus’s suite was modeled after Snowdin, Toriel and Asgore and Frisk’s suite was modeled after Toriel and Asgore’s old home in the New Home, Undyne and Alphys got Waterfall, and Gaster had Hotlands, the other guest rooms had a theme like echo flowers or snow or lava or pillars...

It was several floors but they had, living room, dining room and a massive central kitchen on the ground floor by the front door--speaking of which, Toriel was busy putting a pie on a tray to cool when Sans came in with Frisk and Fuku. And the killer weed-Flowey, still in his pot was on the living room table when he came in.

He looked as if he would make a snarky comment, but when he saw Frisk, his face was that of grim understanding. Toriel turned around and she immediately gasped, “Oh my goodness! Are they alright? What happened?” She ran over to grab Frisk and Fuku.

“i don’t know tori. I only just got a call from frisk and used their phone location to find them. when i did find them they were like this and nobody else in sight. i didn’t stick around in case...” He trailed off as he set them on their long couch.

They fit pretty well. She started working her healing magic on them both. “Fuku needs more heat, I cannot generate the amount she needs if I’m to attend to my child. They have many scrapes and bruises. Sans do you mind calling...Grillby? He must be worried. Call everyone back home please. And...please bring Gaster up here.” She asked, Sans noted that she paused before saying Grillby’s name.

He answered anyway, “sure tori.” He got out his phone and gave Grillby’s number a call. 

Gaster could wait.

\- - - -

Grillby was worried, it showed with the more sporadic flickers of his flames, but despite that he did his job. He ran his bar-- the bar-top, the tables and booths, all old polished wood (magically non-flammable of course) and glass lamps lit by his fire magic. It looked almost just like his old bar Underground, except bigger, more tables and booths and much more room to move. 

After they finally made it to the surface...It was much different to what he remembered of it, but he was only one of maybe a handful of monsters left that were pre-war--he stopped thinking about that. The past was the past and he had an entire future to look forward to, especially with Fuku. They’d made arrangements for his bar, their money was worth a lot on the surface, so his bar was made it almost a few weeks and no corners were cut. 

It was perfect. He ran it with just the two of them, and despite Fuku’s schoolwork she found the time to work at his bar during the evenings.

Fuku was late.

She was NEVER late.

She should’ve shown up hours ago and even though Grillby could keep up the slack, it was a slow night--only Dogamy, Doggaressa, Doggo, Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, Crazy Bun, Big Mouth, Punk Hamster, Red Bird and Ugly Fish--he kept glancing at the door and his watch. He’d tried calling her before, several times--no answer.

As the hours went on, he was getting paranoid, his flames turning red, purple, blue, white with flecks of yellow and orange, but he couldn’t close the bar--each time he tried he was side-tracked with work, mostly Crazy Bun who somehow kept dizzily spinning around on her table. Sans wasn’t at the bar either...

The only monsters that seemed to notice his distress were Dogamy and Dogaressa.

They kept nervously glancing at him, but they didn’t ask questions...

Then he got a call.

“Sans” his phone read.

He answered it.

“grillbz, you might want to come over. it’s fuku...” 

He almost melted his phone right there.

\- - - -

Gaster didn’t know how long he sat over his notes, pondered his thoughts, tried not to think of his dream...but he sensed Toriel, Frisk, Sans and...a green soul?--not many monsters had a green soul...it burned faintly with green light--ahhh...Fuku. If she was here then...Grillby will be here too. The thought of the fire monster made Gaster’s soul ache.

Returning back from the void had different effects on those who once knew him. Plus he hadn’t gone out to see...well anyone--being trapped in an endless void...does things to a monster...

He would have gone out to search with the others, but...Alphys assured him that if one of them brought Frisk home he’d be needed to tend to them. He was a doctor...but he felt like they didn’t want him out and about just yet...for a couple of reasons--Gaster didn’t want to think about it. 

He opened a hole in the void and stepped through--strange to have been trapped in the void and now using it as a way of transportation, he’d always been able to do this, but when he was stuck--he stopped thinking, refocusing on Frisk and Fuku.

Once he appears out of the hall, Toriel gets up and Sans gets off the phone.

“hey g.” He says. Gast gives him a small smile before walking over to the children.

Frisk was asleep, Gaster waves his left hand over them. _**“hMmm...7h3y’lL b3 f1n3 y0uR m4j357y...7h3y’ll ju57 n33d m0r3 r357...”**_ (Translation: Hmmm...They'll be fine your majesty...They'll just need more rest...) He stated and then he looked to Fuku her fire was dim, and her clothes were still damp. _**“17’d b3 b357...1f Fuku h4d 4 ch4n93 0f cl07h35...th3n 1f-wh3n 9r1lLbY 4rR1v35...17 w1lL b3 34513r f0r h1m 70 r3k1ndl3 h3r f1r3...”**_ (Translation: It'd be best...If Fuku had a change of clothes...Then if-when Grillby arrives...It will be easier for him to rekndle her fire...)

“that all we can--” The doorbell rings and Gaster stiffens. He’d know that soul anywhere. He has just enough time to turn, quickly just as the door opens and there he is in his same white shirt, vest, bow-tie, slacks and black shoes. His flames still the same orange-yellow and slightly red around the edges, which quickly turn white when he sees him.

\- - - -

Sans sees Grillby’s flames go white with surprise. He knows he’s seen Gaster. How else could a guy react to his old flame? (heh.) 

Wait---****. Sans understood.

Sans didn’t question....also didn’t comment on Gaster choosing the suite almost the farthest from anyone else. He’s been distant...well he had been--being stuck in the void will do that to you and having to relearn how to walk properly and use magic and get used to the fact that others would have a hard time remembering you, among other things, could do that to a monster. However, he used to even when he was tired from work find the time to spend it with him and Papyrus, but since he’s been back he’s been struggling...

And Sans feels like an idiot for not realizing that it probably wasn’t him or Papyrus or anyone else for that matter that he was avoiding but **Grillby**. 

He gives Grillby a wave “hey grillbz.” Grillby isn’t paying attention to him, but he’s focused on Gaster.  
There’s an almost awkward pause until Gaster adjusts himself to couch into his hand. He turns to Sans and Toriel, he looks calm, but Sans knows he’s panicking--his sockets are empty.

_**“7h3r3 15 l177l3 3l53 1--w3 c4n d0...1-1f y0u’Ll 3xcu53 m3...”**_ (Translation: There is little else I--We can do...I-if you'll excuse me...) He starts walking away towards his suite.

A voice speaks up, _“Gaster...”_

\- - - -

A flash of fire catches his arm, slightly burning his sleeve. Gaster turns towards Grillby, whose flames have turned yellow and white and orange and red.

Grillby turns him around and Gaster feels and sees purple and red tears prick at his sockets, he’s trying to hold them back.

_**“...9r1lLby...y-y0uR d4u9h73r n33d5 y0u...4nd w3..w3 c4n 74lK 50m3 07h3r 71m3...n07 n0w...1--w3 c4n’7...”**_ (Translation: G-grillby...y-your daughter needs you...And we...we can talk some other time...not now...I--we can't..."

Grillby’s hand tightens around Gaster’s arm.

_**“...pl3453...”**_ (Translation: ...Please...)

Grillby’s hand has burnt through his clothes and he’s starting to burn his radius, it tightens and burns and Gaster flinches.

_**“...y0u'R3 bUrn1n9 m3...”**_ (Translation:...You're burning me...) Grillby immediately lets go. His flames dim and change to red and purple and blue and white and flicker in shame and horror. Gaster holds his radius in one of his hands, not that it covered it very well with the holes straight through his palms...

Gaster steps away and disappears down the hall and into his room.

He tries not to look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh drama and angst~ (idk)
> 
> leave me comments and all that jazz (please)


	5. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what to do, what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so bad for leaving this for this long!!! BUT! i'm getting around to updating yay!
> 
> Thanks so much for your patience and support guys.

When Frisk wakes up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, they’re swept up into the arms of Toriel. She hugs them close and cries. “My child...I’m so glad you’re alright.” Her voice is a whisper.

Frisk hugs her back just as tight.

She puts them down on the couch and they look over to Fuku, she’s still asleep and Grillby is sitting at her side on a chair, holding her hand. Frisk can see the flow of his magic between them, like a fire spreading on grass.

There’s a loud _BANG_ from the kitchen, which makes Frisk jump. Grillby wasn’t fazed, he was too concentrated on Fuku.

_**“FRISK!”**_

Undyne and Papyrus, came barreling out of the kitchen and snatched them away from Toriel, and Alphys and Asgore, hearing the noise, came down the stairs with blankets and pillows. They too came over, placing down the things in their hands.

Asgore pats their head. “Are you alright Frisk?” he asks. They nod as best they can while being squished between Papyrus and Undyne, Undyne muttering words they can’t hear over Papyrus’s “nyohoho”ing.

Alphys comes up to them too. “Un-undyne. Pa-papyrus. Please p-put down Frisk.” they loosen their grip on Frisk, but don’t let go. Frisk struggles free and spots Flowey on the table. He’s watching them, scowling. Frisk opens one red eye and he looks surprised.

We need to talk Asriel Chara signs. Frisk nods their head. He looks grimly and says, “So? What you want?” he waves his leaves and Frisk closes their eye to takes him from the table. Chara hold him close and says, “Privately.”

“Frisk?” they turn and smile, tilting their head.

“You need a bath, my child. Come on.” Toriel walks over to take their hand, but they hold Flowey in their other hand. 

“Do you want Flowey to join you?” They nod and Flowey groans.

“But Your Majesty! Frisk Hasn’t Had Their Get Well Spaghetti yet!” Papyrus says.

“Yeah!--” And then there was the smell of smoke and the sound of an alarm beeping _**“OH NO!”**_ came their twin cries as they raced back to the kitchen. Alphys following and Asgore giving Toriel an apologetic smile before following after them.

Toriel shakes her head before scooping Frisk up agin and walking towards the stairs, they kept their arms wrapped around Flowey’s pot.

They kept an eye on Grillby though, who despite the noise still hadn’t moved, but there was a noticeable flicker and wave of his flames. And despite where he and Fuku were linked his flames seemed...dim.

As if sensing their worry, Toriel spoke up. “Don’t worry my child. Sir G--Grillby and Fuku will be fine.”

Frisk could tell that even with Fuku there seemed to be something else bothering the fire monster...and on another note... “Sir”?

\- - - -

Gaster is sitting on his bed in the room, hunched over himself, hand clasped tightly in front of him and his elbows rested on his knees, quietly listening to everything going on outside through the shadows.

Sans had popped in once they had Grillby and Fuku settled and Toriel and Alphys were tending to Frisk. He sat by Gaster, not commenting on the faint purple streaks down his father’s face, to which Gaster was grateful. 

But even he could read Sans’s semi-strained-perma-grin and the concern and worry in his little pin pricks. 

They sit together in silence until Gaster breaks it with a low, drawn out garbled sigh. And Sans takes it as a cue to place a hand on his shoulder.

_**“54n5...”**_ (Translation: Sans...)

“yeah?”

_**“Wh47 5h0ld 1 d0?”**_ (Translation: What should I do?)

“tibia honest dad, i think you need to talk to grillbz, but if you don’t then--.”

_**“Wh47 c0uld 1 s4y 70 h1m?”**_ (Translation: What could I say to him?) Gaster asked whipping to the side to look into his son’s surprised face at his outburst.  
_**“‘H3ll0 9rilLby. Y0u m4y n07 b3l13v3 m3 h0w3v3r 1’v3 b33n 57ucK 1n 7h3 vo1d, 4 pl4c3 wh3r3 n07h1n9 3x1575, f0r 7h3 p457 m1ll3nn14.---**_ (Translation: Hello Grillby. You may not believe me however I've been stuck in the void, a place where nothing exists, for the past millennia---) He turned away, staring at the floor, hands clenched tightly to his lab coat in his lap, he began to tremble. The weight of his own words felt heavy on his shoulders.

“dad.”

_**\--- Pl3453 f0r91v3 m3 f0r l34v1n9 y0u 4l0n3. Bu7 1 c0ulDn’7 c0m3 b4cK---**_ (Translation:---Please forgive me for leaving you alone. But I couldn't come back---) He remembered being stuck in the void, how he missed Grillby, Sans, Papyrus...It was dark and cold and so so quiet. 

”Dad.”

_**\---1 w45 57ucK. 1’m 50rrY. 50 50 50 50rry---**_ (Translation:---I was stuck. I'm sorry. So so so sorry---) His vision swam and flashes of memories, glimpses into the Underground he got to see--it eventually got to painful to watch, no one remembered him, no one knew him, he couldn’t be seen or heard---

“G A S T E R.”

Gaster didn’t realize how much he was shaking and panicking, until Sans called his name. He was also crying again. This was just like when he returned and reunited with Sans and Papyrus. He was a blubbering apologetic mess--speaking of which his form was slipping again.

He was slightly melting, but Sans managed to grip him anyway.

Gaster can’t stop looking at his trembling hands, clasping them tightly together.

“hey.” Sans says and Gaster miserably looks up into his older son’s face, but instead of slight of Sans’s conflicted face like the last time, he seemed more worried. 

“sorry if i rattled your bones but...” Sans didn’t continue. Gaster saw a few sweat drops forming on his skull and his smile warped a bit. “sorry.”

Gaster shakes his head. _ **“ n0 1’m 50rry 50n...”**_ (Translation: No I'm sorry son...) Gaster says voice quieter. He takes a few deep breaths.

“For what?” Sans asks.

_**“4 l07 0f 7h1n95, 3v3ry7h1n9.”**_ (Translation: A lot of things, everything.) He waves a hand around as if gesturing to something. There’s a strange prickle in his hands as he does so.

“Ya don’t need to apologize dad. I can patella you’re sorry.”

_**“7h47 d035 n07 m34n y0u h4v3 f0r91v3n m3.”**_ he says. _**“1 c4n’7 r34lly f0r91v3 my53lf.”**_ he ads quietly. (Translations: That doesn't mean you have forgiven me.  & I can't really forgive myself.)

The room feels more heavy.

He feels arms wrap around his shoulders. And he’s a bit surprised. Sans usually wasn’t the kind of guy to initiate a hug, but it made Gaster feel better. They sit in silence for a few minutes.

_**“1...1’m b31n9 r1d1cul0u5 4r3n’7 1?”**_ he half-smiled. (Translation: I...I'm being ridiculous aren't I?)

“a bit, but you always were a bit weird dad.” sans chuckled. “No bones about that.” He lets go of Gaster and gives him a pat on the back.

Gaster smiled at his son’s terrible jokes, giving out a light chuckle.

Sans smiled back, his white pinpricks searching his face. “ya gonna be ok, pops?” he questioned.

Gaster stands up and opened up a shortcut. He only casts his son a smile before stepping into it.

He slipped through the darkness of the void to the hall by the living room, hiding in the shadows, invisible to all.

Even with advanced preparation, Gaster’s soul still fluttering and pulsed furiously at the sight of Grillby, unconscious next to his daughter, their hands and flames intertwined as he knelt by her side.

Gaster drifted silently closer, hovering close to both fire monsters, but not touching either of them, no matter how much he wanted to run his hands through the fire on top of Grillby’s head.

He’d missed him so much, so he settled for slipping off his glasses and setting them aside, throwing one of the blankets over Fuku, and then another around him. Then quietly departing.

He was so focused on Grillby he failed to see small coal-black eyes watching.

\- - - -

Fuku had woken up in a familiar living room with her dad by her side. It was one of the few times she’d seen him cry, white molten tears down his face and burning into the floor. 

The room was empty, but she heard people yelling in the kitchen. Eventually she her soft heavy steps run to the kitchen to help clean up the mess. There was a lot of talking about dinner and spaghetti.

She heard the sink running and memories from the incident flooded her mind.

_She was walking Frisk to Grillby’s since she was going to start her shift and Frisk was meeting Sans._

_They’d been walking in an empty street, when Fuku felt someone watching them, heard steps following them. Frisk heard them too and the two of them started running, quickly followed by yelling and the running steps of men._

_Frisk was fast, but Fuku having the longer legs could take longer strides and she picked Frisk up and ran, they couldn’t lead the men to the bar!_

_She blindly ran for places to hide, but the men were hot on her trail. And it seemed more men were there to cut her off wherever she turned, each had a weapon. She knew they were coralling them, but what else could she do but run? She was more adept at healing than fighting..._

_They cornered them in an empty alley._

_Fuku put Frisk down behind her and then all she felt was a bucket of ice water, like acid on her body. She collapsed._

That was planned.

Her flames flickered in response to her distress, but her dad only gripped her hand tighter.

He’d held her hand and healed her, transferring magic to her.

They’d both fallen back asleep, comforted by the other’s presence.

This time she was already waking up and she silently watched as something, pulled the glasses off her dad’s face and wrapped a blanket around him.

Weird. She shook her head, maybe she was still half-asleep.

She looked down at her sleeping dad and silently slipped her hand from his, sitting up carefully.

She moved the blanket from her legs and gently made her way towards one end of the couch and slowly got up, using the couch as support.

She then noticed Toriel come into the room and she softly, quickly made her way to Fuku.

“Are you alright my dear?”

Fuku nods.

“Oh! I was going to get you some clothes to change into. Come with me my dear.” Toriel leads her up the stairs.

Her dad doesn’t stir.

She’s led up the stairs, Toriel eventually picked her up--much to her silent protesting.

She’s led into the main suite it’s white and purple and has wood floors and vases of golden flowers in the windows and table, shelves of books and pictures of everyone along the walls, reclining chairs and a couch, a small kitchen, and three rooms, one empty, the master bedroom and one for Frisk--Fuku could hear Frisk still in their bath and what sounds like someone complaining.

Toriel sets her down, much to Fuku’s relief and they both go into the master bedroom, where Toriel searches around her wardrobe for something for Fuku.

She stands on the round carpet awkwardly, but she catches her reflection in the mirror. Her uniform is torn and dirty, she’ll have to wash it and her flames flickered green with traces of her dad’s orange,red and yellow. 

“Found it!” Fuku turns back to her and she’s holding a lilac cotton sweater dress and a pair of black spandex.

“It might be a bit large on you dear but...” Fuku shook her head.

“Thank you.” she said quietly.

Toriel sets the clothes down on the large bed. “Just leave your uniform here dear, I’ll fix it up for you and wash it.” Fuku didn’t get a chance to protest as Toriel went past her and closed the door behind her.

\- - - -

Frisk and Flowey are in the bathroom. Frisk shoulder-high in warm soapy bath water.

“Well, what is it?” Flowey asks impatiently from a-top a small stool by the bath.

Chara opened their red eyes to peer at him, but heard footsteps come towards them, so they brought their hands out of the water to sign.

**When we were attacked we were rescued.** She signed. Flowey looked at them impatient and annoyed.

“Saved by who?” Flowey asked.

**They wore a mask with two red streaks down the eyeholes, like they cried blood.**

Frisk could see the image in Chara’s mind as they described them. The figure of a person in a frayed-black hoodie-vest, hood up, bandaged arms, worn cargo pants, wrapped shoes, and the mask--cracked and off-white, two thick red streaks running from the eyeholes. What frisk found strange were the thick metal bracelets on their wrists.

**They fought the guys off bare-handed, but they got hurt a couple of times. It didn’t seem to phase them at all. They just kept fighting.** Chara recalled how they dodged the men and struck them down with little effort. They’re pulled out of their musing by Frisk because they can see a soft green light by the door.

“Fuku?” Toriel called, and all of them jumped. “Coming!” she called and they heard her steps as she made her way out.

“So what was the point anyway?” Flowey said, mild irritation and trying to ignore his adopted siblings ploy. 

“The point is that I’ve seen them before.” Chara said. “What?” _What?_ Frisk echoed.

“From the old war books. You know the ones we found in the Librarby.” Chara is trying to refresh his memory. 

Asriel goes quiet, remembering. Frisk saw the memory play out in Chara’s mind.

_Asriel was showing Chara the Librarby in Snowdin and they were looking through tons of books about monster history, magic, and of course the war. Chara was particularly interested about why they ended up underground in the first place._

_“Humans were mages?” she asked. Asriel nodded his head. “Uh-huh they were strong enough that it only took seven mages to seal us underground and we fought in the war against thousands of them.”_

_“What about the human soldiers?” “Them too.”_

_Chara goes quiet, looking through the books until they came across one particularly small one._

_Curious, they opened the book and it had some references to human mages and soldiers..._

_“Asriel, take a look at this!” Chara said. The two of them read over the passage describing human magic--how powerful, strong, different from mage to mage, no two exactly alike-- and soldiers--from some of the generals to scouts. There are thorough drawings along with the passages. “Humans fought of the side of monsters?” Chara asked._

_“Yeah. not all of them were bad.” They turned the pages, looking at the detailed pictures. But then came to a strange passage:_

‘The mages on our opposing side have created an abomination. One that is neither human nor monster; they wear a crimson mantle, strewn with the dust of our kin a white mask upon their face and the void in their eyes and the blood of man streaming from the holes. They spare none....I still do not know how i still live to record this vital information.” 

_Next to the passage was a rough sketch of a figure in a tattered cloak, swords in hand, half-way turned toward them. Their face is covered by a mask, with two holes for eyes and red running from them as if crying blood._

**“No.”** “YES.” 

_But why save us if they fought against monsters in the war?_ Frisk asked.

“Let’s find out.” Flowey said his face twisting into something demonic and he smiled wide.

Chara and Frisk splashed him with water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so many changes in point of view, but i confess i might have to keep them.
> 
> leave me comments please!


	6. Time and Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> over and over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here ya go some fun for you and some feels
> 
> I'm not a proper brain capacity but thanks for your patience and hope you enjoy this.

_You’re walking through a old stone hallway, pillars on either side of you and the floor is old and dusty._

_You know this place, but keep walking to to giant wooden doors and push it open. Inside was a room full of dying flower and a murky waterfall coming down from the ceiling. In the water is a reflection of what was._

_There’s greenery and flowers, and clear water, the ceiling above full of glittering stones. You approach the pool and kneel down._  
Someone with short dark hair, dark skin, and pretty ruby eyes stares back at you. You reach forward and touch hands with them on the water’s surface. Then they pull you into the water.

_You tumble through the dark water, thick and black as flickers of memories open like windows all around you._

_A young child running through a forest, pursued by a silver-white horse with a horn. A man in a dark cloak whipping them with a whip stained red. A child on the back of a bronze dragon soaring high in the air. A skeleton slashing you across the face with a sharp bone. A child swimming in the deepest blue ocean with a woman with a glittering blue-green fish tail. A crowd of people surrounding them as they twist and curl and leap, chains rattling. A child surrounded by the smoldering red-orange feathers of a large bird, curled close for warmth.A man of fire running you through with a sword. A child holding their hand out for a tiny figure in green with shiny wings. They walk through a tear in space and time and emerge to a world of man._

_You fall deeper into the dark._

_Two figures, which turn to five, which turn to six and then eight, stand before you. A man of fire in a dapper suit. A skeleton in a lab coat. A skeleton in a blue hoodie. A skeleton in armor with a red scarf. A girl of green fire in a school uniform. A human child in a blue and purple-striped sweater. A human child in a green and yellow-striped sweater. A goat monster child in a green and yellow-striped sweater._

_They all hold a hand out for you, even as you sink into the darkness and fall away._

You jerk upright and place a hand towards your face-covered face.

You take a deep breath and look again to the package at the corner of your room, wrapped in burlap and twine.

You walk towards it and almost reach for it, but then think better of it and leave it sitting against the wall. You walk out of the room and jump down to the ground floor, peering around the many keys hanging in various places around the room.

Then you spot it. A dark bronze key, inscribed with runes along the blade and a simple three looped bow. You take it and slip it into your pocket, before leaving.

The sun is setting still as you make your way to the roof of your building. You sit on the ledge and watch it set, watch as day turns to night, and a blue sky turns orange and yellow and red and purple then darker blue and purple and pink and then dark blue. Once again the moon peeks through the clouds of the night sky and the stars twinkle and wink at you as you leap up into the sky.

You keep your step on the rooftops light and swift, scanning around with your eyes as you flit from one places to another. Then you came to a stop tall rooftop of a building, looking down at the street below.

There was the feeling of familiar magic as two skeletons appeared out of a sliver of blue, purple, and black magic. A hole in space-time. Sans stands at chest height to the skeleton next to him. And that one is all too familiar to you. He looks the same as you see him in your nightmares.

The cracks in his skull are visible even from where you stand but both of his hands are stuck in the pockets of his white lab coat, his cream turtle neck covered his cervical vertebrae and he wore long black pants and shoes.

Unlike your nightmares, his mouth instead of an open eerie smile is pulled into a tight thin line, a troubled expression on his face as he looks towards the shop they’ve teleported in front of.

It’s a bar really, if the sounds of laughing, barking?, howling?, drunken singing and old music and the feel of monster magic and souls are any indication. The name of the bar also makes you pause. “Grillby’s”. 

Sans pushes the other skeleton inside the building and you take a chance and leap for the roof of it, rolling to land in a tucked crouch, the floor above the bar is empty.

You peer around the edges of the roof and find there’s a small alley on one side of the bar, and a door. You jump up to a nearby roof of some apartments, someone had made it into a garden with many trees and flowers, and scan around again.

Several other buildings also have rooftop accessibility and you grasp at the key in your pocket.

You then sit alongside one of the trees close to the edge, peering over the alleyway, but safely hidden from sight.

\- - - -

Sans and Gaster teleported in front of Grillby’s. Sans could tell Gaster’s nerves getting to him. His hands were in the pockets of his lab coat and his mouth pressed into a tight line, bone pinched around his sockets.

Sans sighed a bit. “come on pops. no need to get so heated over this.” Gaster only looked more worried as a slight purple flush took over his cheekbones and Sans all but had to push him inside.

The bar erupts into “SA--” and then cuts itself off. 

Doggo’s dog treat has fallen out of his mouth and he then picks it up when Sans and Gaster stop moving. Dogamy and Dogaressa have actually stopped nuzzling each other and look and them both straight on. Bird and Fish and Punk Ham are also opening gawking. Mouth’s mouth is dropped, One and Two have stopped drinking their shared pina colada, and Aaron, Nice and Burgerpants are staring too. Grillby actually drops the glass he was cleaning and it rolls off the bartop until it’s onlined in a purple haze and then placed back on the bar.

Gaster has a hand reached out and the purple haze from around his fingers fade.

Lesser and Greater Dog sit up from the poker table and walk over to Gaster, sniffing at him. He jerked but remained stiff, and they both jumped at him at once and started nuzzling and licking him.

_**“44hh! Um 3xcu53 m3 bu7--7h47 71ckl35--570p!! 54n5!---”**_ (Translation: AAhh! Um excuse me but--That tickles--Stop!! Sans!---") he sputtered and Sans took a video with his phone. It was hilarious as he laughed, but somehow kept the phone steady.

Slowly the tension seems to dissolve and the other monsters start laughing and smiling at Gaster’s distress.

A sharp pop and crackle makes the bar go silent again. Grillby had come out from around the bar, he looked the same as normal, but there was a heavy tension around him. LD and GD backed-off of Gaster and he huffed, slightly disheveled as he sat up. He didn’t open his eyes until Grillby strode over and tugged him up by the hand and with one look and nod to Sans he tugged Gaster out the back door.

Sans stopped recording the video and smiled wide. “Heh.”

\- - - -

Gaster cast somewhat nervous glances back at Sans as Grillby led him out the door and Sans just smiled and gave him a wave, still recording a video from his phone.

Resigning himself to the very high possibility that he will be burned tonight (heh.) Gaster looked down at their clasped hands.

His clothes were slightly rumpled from Greater and Lesser Dog and he had slobber all over his face, but somehow it seemed to evaporate with Grillby’s presence or maybe it was the heat rising to Gaster face as Grillby led him through the kitchen to a short hall and out the back door to the alleyway.

Once they were out in the alley, Grillby stopped and Gaster waited. Grillby didn’t move, but his flames flickers and shifted colors as he thought; blue-purple-red-yellow-white-pink-purple-blue, etc.

His soul pulsed faster and harder in his ribcage as the silence between them dragged on.

Grillby still hadn’t let go of his hand but he intertwined their fingers. That alone made Gaster’s skull warm in pleasure.

“I missed you...” Grillby finally whispered. Gaster’s soul clenched painfully at his words, so sad, lonely, but so relieved.

_**“1-1 m1553d y0u 700. 4-4nd...1 0w3 y0u 4n 3xpl4n4710n...”**_ (Translation: I-I missed you too. A-and...I owe you an explanation...") he said voice getting quiet with each word, looking down at his feet.

He was nervous and scared. _**“1-1 d0n’ kn0w wh3r3 70 s74r7...bu7 1 5upP053 7h47 1 5h0uld 574r7 47 7h3 b391nn1n9...”**_ (Translation: I-I don't know where to start...but I suppose I should start at the beginning...) He chuckles a bit. What if Grillby hated him? What if he--? But he couldn’t stop now.

_**“Y0u Kn0w 7ha7 1 d3519n3d 7h3 C0r3, w3ll 0n 7h3 d4y 1 d154pP34r3d mY c0lL--w3’d Ch3cke3d 17 53v3r4l 71m35 4nd w3 k3p7 c0Ll3c71n9 0dd d4t4 r34d1n95 fr0m 17 50 1 w3n7 70 p3r50n4lLy ch3ck 17 w17h 54n5 4nd 4lPhy5 4nd 7h3n 7h3 C0r3 574r73d br34k1n9 d0wN 4nd 1 h4d ju57 3n0u9h 71m3 70 5h13lD 54n5 and 4lPhy5 b3f0r3 17 e3xpl0d3d 4nd 1 w4s 5c4773r3d 7hr0u9h0u7 71m3 4nd 5p4c3...1 w45 3v3ryWh3r3 4nd N0wH3r3...1 54w...1 $@w...”**_ (Translation: You know that I designed the core, well on the day I disappeared my coll--we'd checked it several times and we kept collecting odd data readings from it so I went to personally check it with Sans and Alphys and then the core started breaking down and i had just enough time to shield Sans and Alphys before it exploded and i was scattered throughout time and space...I was everywhere and nowhere...I saw...I SaW...)

He saw Grillby turn towards him, but he can’t stop the words coming from his mouth and his vision shifted and he felt like he was coming apart but he kept speaking, his words getting more and more garbled.

_**“1 w45 C457 1nt0 7h3 V01D--17 w@$ $) d@rk !n 7h#r3 5O d4rK, d@rK y#7 d@rk3R...**_ (Translation: I was cast into the void--It wAs So DaRk iN tHeRe sO dArK, DaRk yEt dArKeR...)

His words were cut off as he was suddenly tugged forward into Grillby and Grillby wrapped both his arms around his waist, holding him in place.

His fears were silenced, replaced by the familiar warmth of the fire monster. 

He clung to him, holding him as if he’d never let go, as tears of purple spilling his sockets. He sobbed into his shoulder, probably ruining Grillby’s shirt and vest. But he took a deep breath and continued.

_**“1 c0uLD 533 y0u...fR0m wh3r3 1 w45 57ucK...1-1 c0uLd d0 n07h1n9 bu7 w47cH 45 y0u--and 54n5 and P4pYru5 and FUku w3n7 0n w17h l1f3 w17h0u7 m3...n0 0n3 r3m3mb3r3d m3 0r kn3w wh0 1 w45 0R 7h47 13v3n 3x1573d ...y0uR l1v35 w3n7 0n w17h0u7 m3...”**_ (Translation: I could see you...from where I was stuck...I-I could do nothing but watch as you--and Sans and Papyrus and Fuku went on with life without me...No one remembered me or knew who I was or that I even existed...Your lives went on without me...)

He gripped onto Grillby’s back all the tighter and then let go, pushing himself away when he also felt Grillby’s arms slacken. He didn’t look up past the buttons of Grillby’s shirt as he hunched over.

_**“1-1 d-0n’7 kn0w 1f y0u b3l13v3 m3 bu7 1 ju57 w4n73d--n0 n33d3d 70 73lL y0u 7h3 7ru7h 4nd...th47 1...1 d0 571lL c4r3 f0r y0u 9r1lLby. 50 v3rY MuCh. 1’m 50rRY f0r n07 c0m1n9 70 533 y0u 500n3r, bu7 1 w45n’7 5ur3 1f y0u w0ulD...1f you w0ulD 571lL...”**_ (Translation: I-I don't know if you believe me but I just wanted--no needed to tell you the thruth and...that I...I do still care for you Grillby. So very much. I'm sorry for not coming to you sooner, but I wasn't sure if you would...if you would still...) He trailed off, hearing the nervousness and shakiness of his own voice mixed in with static and he heard Grillby’s fire crackle, but nothing else.

The silence dragged on and a tense atmosphere had settled around them. He could feel the blush and a new onslaught of tears. _**“w3lL 7h47’5 4lL 1 c4m3 h3r3 f0r 50 1’lL 90 h0m3 n0w--”**_ (Translation: Well that's all I came here for so I'll go home now--) He turned away and was about to make a shortcut back to the house, when he’s tugged back and whirled around. 

Grillby’s staring down at him, his eyes and mouth visible, slits of white flame against the red and orange of his face, his mouth outlined in a thinner white line, showing off his slightly jagged mouth and 4 points of his fangs. His flames were pinched together above his eyes and his mouth slightly open in an attempt to speak, but once they locked eyes the words seemed to die in his mouth and he just held Gaster by his arms and walked him backwards.

Gaster could do nothing but follow his lead, so he wouldn’t fall, noticing the blue and white flames crossover Grillby’s face. 

And then Grillby bent down a bit to kiss him.

Gaster’s sockets widened for a moment and he blinked, freezing up. He’s walked back into the wall by the door of the bar. He’s slightly panicking at this point as he struggles against Grillby’s hold a little, but he isn’t having it. His protests are muffled by Grillby’s mouth and his arms are taken and pinned on either side of his head, as Grillby presses closer to him, their bodies perfectly aligned.

Grillby’s kisses become a bit deeper more insistent and Gaster knows he isn’t going to escape. His mind was going fuzzy from the warmth and the heat, but he hasn’t really responded to the kiss. He slowly does begin kissing back as more tears slip down his skull, his sockets closing.

As soon as he responds, Grillby presses him closer, shifting a leg between his and letting go of one of his hands to wrap it around his waist and Gaster’s free hand latches onto the lapel of his vest.

He hears the hum of Grillby’s soul against his chest and his soul thrums and buzzes and pulses, calling out to him, but not yet...not yet...

He turns his skull away eventually so he could breathe and Grillby began kissing along his temple and down his jaw as he breathed deeply.

_**“9r1lLbY...w417...”**_ (Translation: Grillby...wait...) He managed to say between short gasps as Grillby kissed at his cervical vertebrae.

Grillby did stop though, pulling back far enough to stare at Gaster. And gaster used a hand to push him back a little, but kept his hand there, over his chest, over his soul.

“Gaster.” his voice called to him like a moth to flame. Gaster just continued to breath and stare at his hand on Grillby’s chest.

Grillby let’s go of his hand to tilt his skull up. He’s flustered and embarrassed and nervous and afraid.

“I’m...still mad at you.” He nods, not trusting his voice.

“You’re still in trouble for not coming to see me sooner.” He nods.

“But I understand.” He’s about to nod, but he stops and stares up at him, sputtering in squeaks and crackles and static.

Grillby only chuckles.

\- - - -

You stayed at the tree, listening quietly to the sounds coming from the bar, especially the strange noises of static and white noise and pops and crackles--sounds you haven’t heard for such a long time.

It wasn’t until you heard the alley door slam open that you sat up straighter alongside the tree and peered down into the alley.

And there they were.

A tall monster of fire in a sharp looking vest, bow-tie and white shirt, led the skeleton in the lab coat outside where they stood quietly in the middle of the alleyway.

They were still the same.

You watched the entire exchange between them, not looking away not even as they shared kisses. Something inside your chest stirred at their exchange, you felt light and just a little warm.

Unfortunately, the wind blew and with it went several flowers and leaves which showered down on them and they looked up.

You jumped away before they could fully see you and ran, jumping roofs to the nearest roof door and snatching the key from your pocket, insert it into the door, the lock changing, shifting to fit the key and you slip inside, slipping the key out of the keyhole and close the door behind you.

You slide down the door of the house, the hanging plants and keys, books, furniture, pots... You put a hand over the eyes of the mask, hanging your head.

[Why must it always be so? Time and again?] you say in a tongue forgotten by many, as red slips from your eyes and into your hands and onto the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> portal keys (portkeys copyright @ JK Rowling. IDK HOW THIS WORKS) yup. why do you have this? cuz.
> 
> leave me comments please.


	7. Metallic Clinking?...pt. 1 (Frisk and Fuku)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part one of three of a strange set of circumstances revolving around some of our characters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a month dammit. F it this section is going up in parts and the times will be screwed up but WHATEVER DETERMINATION!!! *poses*
> 
> EDIT: THANK YOU eris FOR THE FANART!!!!  
> http://imgur.com/x6CTTko
> 
> http://imgur.com/wPq3IBh
> 
> http://imgur.com/VcxYPzL
> 
> And here's one of my own: http://crossbladewing.deviantart.com/art/Reaper-and-Hellfire-611058896

Frisk, Chara, and Flowey aren’t sure what’s going on.

Two days after the...incident as they were watching the news one night after dinner there was a report on the men who had ganged up on them and Fuku They were found unconscious in an alleyway close to where they were previously.

_“...Protests against monsters have risen as a result of this case...Many humans blaming monsters for the crime, but so far police have no leads so far as to what happened. They ask if anyone has any information on the incident to please contact the Ebbot City Police. Now---”_

It was eerily quiet after the news. Frisk looked to their parents, both of whom gave them reassuring smiles. Sans ruffled their hair. He gave them a tired smile, but Frisk could see a slight edge to it.

Undyne seemed on the verge of going out to let off steam, glowing spear in hand and Alphys and Papyrus following her.

Gaster gave them a pat on the head and then disappeared down into the lab.

Since then, Frisk was always with one of their friends outside of school or home. Toriel drove them to school, since she was also a teacher there, but they’d be picked up by Sans or Papyrus.  
During school, however, was another story. Frisk had some monster classmates, kids they’d met Underground, especially MK, but they also had human kids, and not all of them were nice.

Frisk was called names and bullied, sometimes they had things thrown at them. They didn’t fight back, even with Chara’s taunts which turned to begging after about a month, but Flowey sure did, which resulted in him being banned from school and almost getting Frisk expelled and Toriel fired. 

So Frisk endured.

Then _that_ happened.

It happened at recess one day. Frisk was running around being chased by MK.

“Yo! I’m going to catch ya Frisk! Just ya wait!!” Frisk laughed. Chara was usually quiet at school simply experiencing it through Frisk’s view.

Then MK tripped over a rock and fell on his face hard enough to knock himself unconscious. Frisk stopped and turned back to help him, but he was out cold. A bunch of other kids gathered around to see if he was ok, catching the attention of the teachers.

Frisk was more concerned about MK that they didn’t hear Chara’s warning of **“Lookout!!”** and then they’re pulled away from the group. The teachers, the other monster children, and other human kids gathered around were more focused on MK, so no one noticed Frisk get pulled away by some bullies into the seclusion of the trees.

Frisk struggled, but the bullies wouldn’t let go. Chara screamed bloody murder in their head, wanting control. 

**Let me out Frisk! LET. ME. OUT.**

They shook their head and that got Chara to quiet down. Their fury turning to disbelief.

 **“Why?!”** Chara demanded, even as they lay on the ground. 

The bullies’ voices rang in Frisk’s ears. “You think you’re so special, huh freak?” **You’re--** “Why don’t you say anything, weirdo?” **\--not the only one--** “What’cha going to do now that your monster friends aren’t here to protect you?” **\--in control.** Frisk stood up, holding their ground but not fighting back.

They/ **You always did this.** The thought echoed both in their own head and Chara’s. Chara’s rage simmering down a little more at their antics and that they got up.

They tried flirting and winking, blowing kisses, but this only seemed to embarrass and anger the bullies, who shoved them into a tree by their shirt collar, hard enough for them to hit their head enough for them to bleed. 

Frisk felt the cuts the bark of the tree had cut into their cheek and in their surprise the bullies dropped them. 

Frisk pressed both hand to the side of their face as Chara screamed profanities in their head. **ASSHOLE! I will FUCKING *** You and *** your *** and have everything inside you ***--- Your friends will be *** and *** and we will leave your ****---Not even your mother will recognize you!!!**

Frisk grit their teeth and shut their eyes at the stinging pain. **Frisk don’t you dare pass out again!! GET UP!**

Then the wind blew, Frisk heard it and the rustling of many leaves being blown in the wind. The bullies screamed at something, but when Frisk their vision swam with red and black dots, all they could see were the retreating back of the bullies and a swirling torrent of yellows, browns, golds, oranges and reds as the leaves fell.

 **Frisk...** Chara’s voice was impatient and worried. They sat up with their back to the tree, wiping the blood from their eyes when suddenly a big red leaf in blown into their face. **What’s going on now?!** Chara’s voice says. They struggle with the leaf until they feel something cold press the leaf against their eyes. They go still, trying not to breathe. Chara goes silent, but Frisk can feel their fear and anticipation.

Their hands are frozen halfway to their face, as cold fingers--at least they think they’re fingers--hover over their injured cheek. The stinging lessens little by little, until there’s no more pain. Frisk feels their heart calm and their head no longer pounding in their skull. They can even feel Chara relaxing as well. Their arms drop to their sides and then there’s the strange clinking sound, like the rattling of metal against itself.

Then the cold is gone and the leaf falls away, floating gently down to the ground in front of them.

They pick up the leaf and turn it over, looking around.

There’s no one around.

 **What the hell was that?** Chara asked and Frisk agreed.

They weren’t in any pain anymore, in fact their body felt light, lighter than it had been in a long time. They practically ran back to the schoolyard, just as the bell rang for recess to end. They gripped the leaf in their hand tightly.

MK was picked up by their parent while Frisk was gone and the rest of the school went by in a blur. Sans picked them up from school and shortcutted them home where Frisk practically ran upstairs to talk to Flowey, much to Sans’s amusement “where’s the fire kiddo?” he called after them.

Frisk found Flowey in their room, sitting on their desk by the window, asking in rays of the setting sun. 

He took one look at them and the leaf they had in their hands before asking, “What the hell happened to you guys this time?” 

They had an idea, Frisk let Chara take over so she and Flowey could talk.

It just didn’t make sense to them, why they were being helped out by a complete stranger. What could they want? Why? Who WERE they?---

Chara was listening to their musing but continued her discussion with her brother. “What is Frisk doing?” he eventually asked, barely disguised worry in his tone. **“They’re thinking about how we can try to catch who’s been helping us.”** she answered. 

“I did suggest we find out, but how are we even going to find this guy?” Flowey asked, waving his leaves. Chara took out a drawing she did of their masked “savior”, holding it out to him.

“OK--yeah we know what he looks like but we don’t know what he’s capable of!...”

While Flowey and Chara started to debate back and forth, Frisk was formulating ideas, which eventually got Chara’s attention. 

**“That's a stupid idea.”** she grumbled. “What? What idea?” Flowey questioned, starting to get annoyed. Chara didn’t answer only switching control over Frisk’s body back to them as Toriel knocked on the door.

“Frisk my child! I’m going to the store for groceries. Would you like to come? We could go shopping for your Halloween costume.” she suggested. Frisk beamed.

 **What about your "ideas"?** Frisk ignored Chara, grabbing Flowey’s pot. “Is this the plan?” he asked.

Frisk shrugged their shoulders.

The two of them said, **“You don’t know what you're doing, do you?”**

Frisk didn’t care, sticking out their tongue. They were d e t e r m i n e d.

\- - - -

Fuku is confused.

Her dad has been acting oddly, both at work and at home. He’s been absent minded, and slightly clumsy. He’s almost dropped glasses or went to wash dishes without gloves! She’d even catch his face turn blue occasionally. Was he sick? When she’s confront him on it he just reassure her, but she saw his flames spark and sputter, nervous.

What was he hiding from her?

On top of all of that he was very protective of her. Iko, her girlfriend: a purple plasma monster usually carrying around her red skateboard and wearing her red cap, wouldn’t let her out of her sight at school either when she found out about what happened. Unlike Fuku’s kind quiet personality, Iko was much more outgoing, toughing out hardships and all that. 

Fuku really did love her, her flames turning a bit red in embarrassment. 

As she walks to the gates of her school at the end of the day, where Iko is standing outside, leaning against the wall. “Hey Fuku!” she greets than, slings an arm around her and they start walking to her home.

Iko had gotten into the habit of walking her home, only to skateboard back to her own house, nearly half an hour away.

“So what are you going to be for Halloween? I was thinking of---” 

“Halloween”. The human holiday of dressing up in a costume, “trick-or-treating”, partying...She honestly hadn’t thought much about it. She was half-listening to Iko rant about her costume, when she sees a human woman walking down the street towards them. She wore a baggy hoodie, hood up, hair slightly messy, and she was hunched over, hands tucked into her pockets.

She looked dangerous, but she just seemed to stare straight ahead and kept walking. She stared at them as she passed. However, instead of threatening her eyes looked frightened instead.

They usually didn’t have to worry about humans bothering them since a whole bunch of other monsters usually walked with them, but since word had gotten around that humans were targeting monsters, most of their schoolmates got picked up from school or waited at school for someone to pick them up or took the school bus.

Iko and Fuku kept their routine though...for some reason when they passed any suspicious human walking down the street, they always somehow looked freaked out and scared, even when they seemed to be casually walking by and she always heard this strange echo of what sounds like chains, faint but she kept hearing it.

Iko just thought the humans were weird, but she didn’t hear any sounds other than the sound of cars, other monsters, the wind...How could Fuku hear it when others couldn’t?

It’s been happening on and off for a while, but Fuku can’t figure it out. She’s even told Iko, and her girlfriend was just as stumped. “Maybe it’s a magic thing?” she said. It wasn’t all that helpful.

She couldn’t ask her dad either, he seemed busy with other things. 

She swears she almost hears it, that quiet echoing of metal clinking, just outside. She opens her window and peers out. Nothing. The noise sounds again and she looks up at the opposite building and for a second, she swears she sees a figure on the roof.

So she quietly gets ready to go out, she’s done it a few times already, which Grillby has caught her, but she hasn’t done it in a while.

She puts on a coat, a shirt, pants, scarf, and shoes. She listens for her father but he’s...talking to someone?...

She doesn’t think more of it as she lets her magic surround her in a shield of green fire and she lands on the street below with little resistance.

There aren’t many monsters out this late at night so she pulls a hood up and the scarf up around her face. As she makes her way around, listening for that metallic chime.

She hears it occasionally as she walks through the dark streets, only focusing when she hears it only to go running in that particular direction.

She had to know what it was. She felt it in her soul. It was important.

She kept chasing the sound, past shops, past apartments and houses, she kept going, until eventually she ran into a park. It had gone quiet and she was breathing hard, flames flickering with exhaustion. She looked around the park.

There were many different trees scattered around, pathways through grass, a playground, a basketball court, a gated dog park, and several lamps.

She sat down on a nearby bench, several lamps illuminated the park and the trees were turning colors, she watched and listened to the leaves rustle in the gentle breeze.

And then she heard it. Footsteps and muffled laughter, coming closer. She smelt them before she heard them. There was at least 5 drunk human men coming toward her. “Lookie wha we got ‘ere boys! A girl all by ‘er lonesome! Why don’t we---” one started, but he was cut off almost instantly. He was frozen, his face a mask of shock and fear as his words were caught in his throat. 

Fuku watched as his eyes rolled back and he slumped to his knees and fell.The other men started talking, “The fuck is wron’ with ya?” another man slurred, before he too slumped over and passed out. She jumped in shock, flames cracking.

“Wha--” another started, but he too wobbled over and fell. The last two seemed to sober up and one pointed an accusatory finger at her and was about to scream before he also passed out. The last one fell back scrambling away. He started screaming, trying to run from her but he eventually slumped over as well, sprawled face-first into the ground. 

Fuku was frozen to her seat in shock. None of them moved.

What? What just happened? She flinched as the wind blew and rustled the leaves carrying the sound of that metallic clinking, much louder, echoing throughout the park. 

It’s sound was ominous and seemed to grow louder and louder until she had to cover her non-existent ears and curled up into a ball on the bench.

She felt weak and so tired all of a sudden and her vision turned hazy as she heard that loud metallic clinking right behind her.

Then everything went black.

When she woke up she was in her room again. She looked around and saw a blurry figure jump out of her window but there were two distinct glowing streaks of light trailing after it. She scrambled to the window only to see the twin streaks of light shoot around the corner of one of the nearby buildings.

She gaped out of her window for a good few minutes before she closed the window and sat on her bed, going over what had happened.

Did some stranger take her home? How did they get her to her room? How did they know which room was hers? Did they know where she lived? A stalker? What were those lights? The sound?

The questions whirled around in her head until her exhaustion caught back up with her, the stress of the night’s events, causing her to start crying without realizing it, vision blurring with blue fire tears. She wiped them hastily, not wanting to worry her dad in the morning.

She quickly changed into her pajamas, taking her phone off of her desk. Then she snuggled into her blankets and pillow. Her phone read 12:55 a.m. Iko was probably still asleep, but she texted her what had happened anyway.

She had a lot to tell her at school later that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://www.soundsnap.com/prison_manacles_mvmnt_4 (What they hear.)
> 
> like i said, timing for each section is a little weird, but lemme make it clearer (these events are either single incidents or reoccuring over the course of several weeks; the timing is before Halloween *hint hint wink wink nudge nudge* ok? ok.)
> 
> As usual!! Leave me comments and feedback, much appreciated.
> 
> Stay Determined.


	8. Metallic Clinking?... pt. 2 (Papyrus and Sans)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they don't even have ears...why are they hearing that sound?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PART 2!! the confused cinnamon roll and the all-knowing marshmallow!!!

Papyrus is sure someone is japing him somehow. HIM! The GREAT Papyrus is being japed!! He suspects Sans, but his brother is too lazy to come up with such schemes. And his father...well his father isn’t really one to pull pranks of any kind, but will occasionally make jokes with Sans, much to his dismay and joy. He will never tell either of them this though.

Since Frisk’s accident, he’s been spending more time away from work to watch over them, but the same night of the incident someone had vandalized the shop...again. There were a couple of bricks through the window and spray paint and destroyed flowers and water everywhere. Terrible! His majesty tried to save face but Papyrus could tell he was devastated. Papyrus knew how much time, effort and love Asgore put into those flowers. 

Papyrus had thought this might have been a distraction for them so no one would be looking for Frisk, Undyne seemed to agree with this idea. Then she almost beat up several humans walking down the street, but thankfully Asgore stopped her. She and Alphys offered to help with the clean-up, Alphys offering to install a security system and reinforced windows and doors, and Undyne simply offered her time with the clean- up itself.

Then they all got a call from Toriel saying Frisk was missing and they all had to go out to search, Papyrus ran all around town for any sign of Frisk, but of course Sans found them in the end as well as Grillby’s daughter Fuku.

Strangely enough when Papyrus went to help with the shop he was surprised that someone had cleaned up all the words in paint on the roof and windows, cleared the glass, excess water, and damaged flowers. Instead the shop had a few buckets of fresh flowers, not enough to replace the ones they had but it was a start.

Asgore and Undyne were just as surprised when they came by.

“Papyrus...what?...” Asgore gaped at the shop. 

“Pap...what the hell?...” Undyne said then she grinned, “Punk! You did a great job!” She noogied him. “PLEASE DON”T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!” he said. “AND NO I DIDN’T DO--”

“Please don’t be modest Papyrus, this is amazing!” Asgore praised and he was flustered.

“NO REALLY I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!!” “Aw don’t be like that Pap!---” He...wasn’t going to get through to either of them was he? He sighed and Undyne released him only to clamp him hard on the back. “Nyeh!”

He then caught a sound echoing in his skull through ears he didn’t have. A metallic clinking, not like coins, but more like... “PAP!” “NYEH!!” he jumped in surprise as Undyne was staring him down. 

“You ok?” she asked, a half smirk on her face. “You tired from working or something?” she challenged.

He felt himself burn with courage and his fighting spirit.

“The GREAT Papyrus Is Never Tired!” he exclaimed. “Sweet then---!”

The rest of that day went without a hitch, Asgore, Undyne, and him did more work of organizing the flowers and boarding up the open windows and door. When Alphys came with several cameras and wire Undyne and Papyrus helped with setting up, following her instructions carefully.

Papyrus didn’t hear that sound again, but something about it...he couldn’t place the feeling.

It distracted him. He made spaghetti, more than necessary--he’ll admit and even burnt the sauce black several times, catching the stove on fire more than usual. He’d almost trip over that Annoying Dog only to barely catch himself and he spent time in his room thinking rather than acting out battle scenarios with his action figures. 

Even when training Undyne, he caught the sound and almost missed knocking away several of Undyne’s spears. She yelled at him and trained with him harder as a result, but he caught up quickly.

He couldn’t get that sound out of him head and unlike Sans, he couldn’t hide his musings from his brother nor friends so easily. They seemed to pick up on his change in demeanor. he tried to dissuade them with his usual boisterous personality.

Everyone seemed to buy it, but Frisk and Sans and...his father.

“whatcha thinking so hard about bro?” Sans asked him one night.

He had a feeling he shouldn’t tell Sans about the noise for some reason. His soul seemed to clench at the prospect, but he said, “Trying To Figure Out What To Use As A Costume For This “Halloween” Holiday Frisk Told Us About.” 

Well it wasn’t a **complete** lie.

Sans stared at him for a good few moments but Papyrus could feel himself sweat.

“is that all bro? that’s easy. we’re skeletons so we can just trick or treat people to ourselves. it’ll be a skele-TON of fun.”

“SANS!!” “what? can’t-DY you take a joke?” 

“THAT DIDN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE!”

Sans only laughed and disappeared before Papyrus could find something to throw at him. Then all of a sudden his father seemed to melt out of the shadows, which surprises him for once.

“F-Father! What Have You Been Up To? I Haven’t Seen You In--” Gaster simply puts a hand on his shoulder and a knowing smile.

Papyrus can’t think of anything else to do but to shyly smile back at him.

\- - - -

Sans doesn’t like not knowing what’s going on, he thinks as he teleports into his room. He lies down on his bed and stares up at his ceiling, thinking.

He knows a lot. Maybe too much.

He knows about Frisk and their ability to RESET and SAVE and LOAD. He knows about the demon child they carry around in their head. He knows that Flowey is really Asriel but without a soul. He knows that Frisk isn’t telling him something, but he knows not to pry to deep with the kid. They’ll tell him if it’s important.

He knows about the experiments he, Gaster and Alphys did to monsters underground. He knows about alternate timelines, alternate worlds. He knows about the void. 

He knows Gaster and Grillby are back together. Good for them.

He knows that Papyrus is hiding something from him, but he doesn’t know what. He wants to pry, but he knows his brother. He’ll tell him when he’s ready.

He knows that something is going on because he knows there’s something in the city, not because he can feel it or see it or sense it, but because there’s this strange metallic clinking sound he hears, echoing on the wind.

No one seems to be able to hear it but him and he wonders what that means.

At his hotdog stand at the park, (he’s usually sleeping) he’s usually woken up by the ominous feeling of a human’s soul come to yell or pull something on him or the soul of a monster for food, but lately he’s just been sleeping right through his shifts and found random change, gold coins, or paper money on the stand next to him, as he wakes up to his alarm telling him his job shifts.

Then he realizes he’s slept through his shift without a hitch, which was odd because since he started he’d never--NEVER--went through a shift without interruption.

So he found it strange when he wakes up to just his alarm for his next work shift. And no one around in the park except for children and their family playing at the playground in the distance. 

Then there was this strange echoing sound, like rattling metal, but it was fading away as he got up and took a shortcut to his job at an ice cream shop.

The sound was still there far away, but seemed to be getting closer, until like a passing car or fire truck it passed right over him and disappeared.

_**...What was going on?** _

It’d been happening on and off irregularly for a while. His thoughts prevented him from sleeping so he simply took a shortcut to Grillby’s it wasn’t late enough for the bar to close yet.

He popped to the front of the bar when he heard it again.

He looked around, just as the door of the bar opened and Fuku almost barreled him over. He dodged out of the way and caught her hand.

“woah fuku, where’s the fire?” he joked. She turned back to him in surprise. 

The sound was gone by then and she gently pulled away, shaking her head. She brightened a bit as she said, “Hello Sans,” in her soft voice.

“Hey.” they walked into the bar, only the regulars seemed to be there tonight. “SANS!!!!!” was the collective cry, accented by barks. He waved.

Fuku quickly walked to the kitchen and Grillby watched her as she passed, flames flickering in distress.

Sans sat on his barstool. “the usual, grillbz.” A bottle of ketchup, burger, and basket of fries were placed in front of him.

Grillby seemed distracted and the bar seemed a bit cold, despite the dogs still playing their game, Bird and Fish slumped against each other, Bun rambling incoherently in her drunken stupor while Mouth listened in their booth, and Hamster by the jukebox.

Fuku hadn’t come back.

Grillby kept looking at the doors.

Sans knew better than to ask, especially when Grillby looked so agitated. No button pushing tonight unless it was for the jukebox.

It seemed like a tension was in the air, but only Grillby and Sans could feel it. He ate his fries and drank his ketchup in relative silence. No puns tonight. Grillby just kept cleaning glasses in front of him.

In the distance, the echo of metallic clinking continued.

Sans finished his food and got up, turning away, “put it on my tab grillby.”

And he was gone as soon as the door closed, shortcutting to the nearest rooftop, some apartment building with a rooftop garden, overlooking the alleyway next to Grillby’s.

There’s no one there and the sound is gone, but...he knew something was there.

He felt it in his bones.

He looked around, but there was nothing around, just more building rooftops, dark night sky, the moon some stars, and then he looked up---he froze. In the distance, he saw two twin streaks of light, pass the horizon and then were gone. Sans knew there was too much light pollution in the city for him to see shooting stars.

So what did he see? He shortcutted buildings getting closer and closer to the outskirts of the city, less and less monster activity and more warehouses, and older buildings.

He had to rest on the roof a building across from an empty lot between two buildings. He slumped onto the floor and looked up at the moon and stars. They were clearer in this part of the city.

Then his phone rang. It was Frisk. He took the call.

“yea kid?” he answered. 

“Come back trash bag, Frisk had another nightmare.” Flowey said into the phone, irritated and grumpy, but there were traces of worry in his voice.

“sure thing weed.” he said, too tired to deal with his angry screeching, he hung up and sighed.

He took a shortcut to Frisk’s room, where the kid was bundled up tightly in all their blankets, but they immediately jumped out at him when they saw he was there. They hugged him around his middle like a koala, trembling like a leaf.

He smiled and petted their hair softly. They snuggled into his more as a response. He walked over to their bed and laid down with them on his stomach and ribs, pulling blankets over both of them while his phalanges treaded through their bed hair. He ignored the gag noises Flowey made at their desk.

Long after Frisk and the weed fell asleep, Sans was still awake, questions racing around his skull. He sighed, pushing away the thoughts as he used his magic to open the curtains in Frisk’s room to watch the moon shining through the window behind the tree.

He knew he wasn’t going to figure all of this out so easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 down 2 to go.
> 
> have i rattled your chains yet? >:)
> 
> Stay Detemined.


	9. Metallic Clinking...? (pt.3) Grillby and Gaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That sound...why is it so familiar? and why do these memories plague my mind?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS. FRIGGIN'. CHAPTER.--- was surprisingly difficult. ( ｰ̀εｰ́ )--(BOO.) ANYWAY HAPPY EARLY 4th of JULY (those of you who live in America)!!
> 
> Thanks for the 200+ kudos, 40+ bookmarks, and 3400+ hits guys!!

Grillby is suspicious. 

He knows that his daughter is hiding things from him again. Fuku has been acting strangely around him. She always seems to be on the verge of telling him too, but she holds back at the last moment. She has been like this once before. When she started dating Iko, a purple plasma monster from Hotlands, where Fuku went to school.

She didn’t tell him for the longest time that she and her best friend were more than that, thinking he wouldn’t approve and she was distant towards him then. He had moved to Snowdin for work and she remained in Hotlands for her studies...They still called and she visited him, but things were...tense between them.

He didn’t know until a little before the barrier broke that she and Iko were together, mostly because it was Iko who broke the news to him, coming right up to his bar and asking formally asking permission for her to date Fuku.

Grillby was struck silent, but he nodded his assent and he and Fuku had a very long conversation after that, involving much apologies in their old tongue, crying (burns in the carpet), and hugging (he remembers he got several complaints the next day about not to NEVER burn bright yellow ever again if he could help it)

They had agreed then that they were both open to talking about anything and everything...but now it seemed Fuku was keeping something from him and whatever it was seemed to weigh on her mind. Her usual bright green flames were a bit dim and she was slightly turn a bit blue. She would avoid him, rushing out the door for school with her breakfast packed away and come home ready for work.

She spoke less. Both of them were soft spoken, but even Fuku usually spoke more to the customers in a day that Grillby had in several months. Even the bar seemed quieter and the atmosphere a bit colder, despite both their presences.

And on top of all of that...

He somehow hear this strange metallic clinking while he’s working the bar at night sometimes, even when it was loud and noisy: Doggo, Dogamy and Doggaressa, GD, and LD barking and howling over their poker game, Crazy Bun yelling her drunken slurs long after he cuts her off for the night, Big Mouth and their gossip, Ugly Fish and Red Birds chatter, Punk Hamster fiddling with the jukebox, Fuku running around the bar doing her job, him making drinks and food...somehow despite all of that, if he concentrated he could hear it.

He doesn’t know if it was always there or not, he’s even checked the jukebox with Punk and it’s definitely not coming from it, nor was it anything in the kitchen, or something in his apartment above the bar. And none of the dog monsters seem to hear it either.

_He was preparing for the bar to open one night and Fuku had the night off to study for a test with Iko at her house. He had set the tables and wiped down the bar, and was cleaning glasses when he first heard it._

_An echo of something metallic...not quite like bells..but more like clinking metal together...it sounded familiar and it sent chills down his back. It got progressively louder, as if coming closer and he was frozen in his place at the bar as the sound seemed to echo around the bar, the sound pounding at his head._

_He dropped the glass, which rolled across and off the bar where shattered on the floor as Grillby braced himself against the bartop, clutching his head as the sound rang in his ears painfully. His flames taking on different and darker colors in distress and pain. His vision became distorted and the sound echoed throughout his form. He felt as though he was breaking apart--then it was gone and he blacked out..._

_He woke up a few hours later, it was as though nothing happened. He hadn’t torched his clothes or the bar or the racks of alcohol, even the broken glass he’d dropped was gone. He thought nothing more of it as he switched his sign to “open” and let in the first customers of the night. However, later that night he noticed that some of his stronger magical drinks were less full than before until later that night while preparing drinks._

Since the first time it happened, he only faintly heard the sound in the distance, faintly...quietly. It was never more than background noise, but he was still focused into the sound, attuned to it.

He had pondered many times since then what it could possibly be. It wasn’t something constant, only happening irregularly, but all other times he heard it were during his work hours and never before or after, only when it was busy and then it would disappear as if it was never there.

He stayed up late in the night thinking, the sound was familiar...where had he heard it?...He sat at his bed thinking, flames flickering erratically in his frustration. The stress of worrying over Fuku, that recurring noise, preparing for “Halloween”: drink ideas, reservations, decorating?...and to top off everything he was having his nightmares again.

The noise seemed to be the trigger for them this time. Each day he heard the noise he’d have a dream from the war...only this time it seemed to be the same dream.

He dreamt of the battlefield, monsters fighting humans, burning landscapes, yelling, screaming and that sound always seemed to show up just as the sounds of battle quieted and all around him were piles of dust and fallen bodies...Then an overwhelming magical pressure froze him in place and a red cloaked figure appears before him before he wakes up.

He had told Gaster about his dreams, called him, but he hadn’t told him about the noise yet. He didn’t want to bother the scientist, he was busy working and--no that wasn’t why...he still held himself back each time because...the memories of that red cloaked figure have **haunted** him for years. He didn’t know if Gaster knew who they were, since he was captured part-way through the war, injured, and out of commission.

But Grillby knew...he lived...survived them for Fuku...He held his phone in his hands, Gaster’s number already dialed. He just needed to press “Call”. He’s been putting it off long enough.

He puts the phone to where his ear would be as it rings.

 _ **“900d 3v3n1n6, 9r1lLbY.”**_ (Translation: Good evening, Grillby.)

 _ **“0dD...1 w45 4b0u7 70 c4lL Y0U 45 w3lL...”**_ (Translation: Odd...I was about to call you as well...)

“...Gas...ter...” he said, his voice giving out and crackling halfway through his name.

He seemed to pick up his mood. _ **“9r1lLbY?...Wh47’5 wR0n9?...”**_ (Translation: Grillby?...What’s wrong?) His voice was more serious and worried.

“...Can you come here?...” A small flash of purple light and Gaster was standing in his room no sooner were the words were out of his mouth. Gaster was still wearing his glasses and his turtleneck and black pants. He was most likely in the lab when Grillby called.

Grillby puts his phone down on his bed and leans forward, elbows on his knees and head in his hands, taking deep breaths. He hears Gasters footfalls as he approaches him and there’s a slight dip in the mattress as he sits down next to him. He feels one of Gaster’s bony hands rub his back and the other grips his shoulder lightly.

Grillby is tired, his flames dim and changing colors rapidly in his distress as Gaster wraps his long arms around Grillby’s shoulders and lays his skull on his shoulder.

And nothing more needs to be said.

Not Yet.

\- - - -

Gaster is perplexed. 

He’s spent most of his time either in the underground lab under the mansion or at Grillby’s...but he can’t shake the feeling he’s being watched, besides the cameras set up in both the lab and Grillby’s--those were put up just in case some humans decided to target the bar since many monsters frequented the bar.

It was as disturbing as it was when he was in the void, empty, quiet, but it wasn’t malicious or threatening or changing it felt...stagnant. In the void he felt as if he was losing his mind it was too quiet and yet so loud, everything and nothing at once...He shivers at the memories.

He was probably just being paranoid, he’s been just as jumpy as he was when he was IN the void if not more. When Frisk had visited him in Waterfall, he had been so overjoyed that he teleported! It took the child several timelines to find him again after all...so determined to save everyone. Gaster smiles at the nostalgia.

The surface really had changed in the time the monsters had been Underground, but the humans...not much has changed. He was a quiet confident to their Majesties, such was his job before--He didn’t think further on the thought. The three of them talked while everyone else in the house slept: humans protesting, violence against monsters, struggle for their rights...it went on and on.

He decided against telling them about this particular...issue of his. Though, they’d told him from the beginning to tell them if there was anything he found strange. He couldn’t understand what was happening.

Aside from his paranoia, he started hearing this strange noise, like metal clinking against metal...like chains...The sound disturbed him, no matter how faint it was. At first it was just some small noise at the edge of his hearing and he ignored it, thinking it was some side effect from escaping the void. His words were static and noise even he at times could not understand. While still in the void he drew energy from machinery and electronics and it seemed to affect them adversely and now that he was back in a lab and whole, he had hoped he’d ceased affecting technology in such a way....then it would stop and he’d simply shrug and move on, but it kept happening.

He heard the noise around the lab, around the house, when he went out to Grillby’s, but he could not find an explanation for it. He, being the former Royal Scientist, ran tests. He tested machinery around the house, taking them apart and putting them back together, and found nothing. He even tested himself, but could find nothing physically or magically wrong with himself.

He had thought he may be succumbing to old age or that the void had certain effects on him that hadn’t made themselves known yet or maybe he was suffering from something else entirely. He researched human mental conditions and found something called, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” and that it affected most humans that went through significant traumatic events.

He sat at his chair, with his skull resting on his hands, elbows on his desk, deep in thought. Perhaps he was going through something similar because it seemed he was the only one who could hear it.

_He was working in the lab with Alphys, just some test experiments to see how their new equipment worked. He was just pipetting chemicals into cuvettes and Alphys was at the computer going over data when he heard the noise again, nearly dropping his pipet in surprise._

_He froze at his work as he heard the noise, almost like a small echo, but he could still hear it along with the clicking of the keyboard of Alphy’s computer as she worked. He had never tried asking anyone else in the house if they could hear the noise because when he heard it he was usually alone._

**“4lpHy5?...”** (Translation: Alphys?...)

_She immediately stops typing to look over at him somewhat nervously. “Y-yes Dr. G-gaster?” she says. She seems more concerned as she turns her chair to face him. “I-is something w-wrong?”_

**“C4n y0u...h34R 4nY7h1n9?....”** (Translation: Can you...hear anything?...) _The noise seemed to get slightly louder._

_She adjusts her glasses and looks around as if she’s trying to listen for what he was talking about. She looks nervous and starts to sweat as she looks back to him. He watches her closely for any sign that she might hear it._

_“N-no, sir. A-am I s-supposed t-to?...” she asked. The noise starts fading, and he listens until he could no longer hear it._

_“D-dr. Gaster?! A-are y-you al-alright?!!” He doesn’t realize he hadn’t been paying attention to her calling him until that moment. She’d gotten out of her chair and had approached him by then._

_He places down the pipet and takes off his glasses and gloves to rub at his sockets. Alphys is worriedly wringing her hands together as she watches him and he side-glances at her._

**“...mY 4p0L09135, 4LphY5...”** (Translation:..My apologies Alphys...)

_“M-maybe...y-you sh-should t-take a break...” she suggested._

**“...P3rh4p5...”** (Translation: ...Perhaps...)

Gaster never mentioned it to anyone in the household again, but he saw some of them give him worried glances, particularly Alphys and Sans, when he would stop and simply listen for any trace of the noise. However, most of the household was getting ready for “Halloween”, as Frisk had put it.

He paced across his room, mumbling to himself, thinking hard about the noise. He’s heard it, he knows it--chain links clinking together...The sound brings up memories he’d like to forget...He absently rubs his wrist joints anyway--flashes of when he was bound by chains and strung from pillars...He stops his pacing and shuts his sockets and mouth at the painful memory.

And despite the noise...something was happening with Grillby as well...He can feel it in his soul. They haven’t yet rekindled their bond, simply getting to know each other again after so long. Grillby really worried him though, it’d started happening around the time he started hearing the noise as well. Grillby would call him in the middle of the night and they’d spend it curled up together on Grillby’s bed until they both fell asleep.Those were the only times they seemed to sleep these days. (Not that Gaster slept much anyway. He never seemed to break that habit...both _then_ and now.) 

Grillby didn’t need to say a word, Gaster understood what it could be...like him, Grillby was a veteran of the war, but Grillby had to live through the later parts of it, which was admittedly the worst parts. They had lost the war, many monsters, and sealed Underground. And after that many monster simply fell down as they lost hope...some leaving their children behind, very few of those who had survived the war had lived to see the surface again, like the two of them...

Now all of...whatever it was that was going on only added to his confusion. He didn’t know exactly what was happening, but he had the strangest feeling it was all connected. He sighed, opening his sockets and looking out his room’s window. He jerked himself forward just the slightest because for just a moment...

He thought he saw someone standing by the bushes along the fence that surrounded the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are coming together, but what is Reader doing?...find out next chapter!!
> 
> As usual comments, feedback, and whatever else is welcome please.
> 
> Stay Determined.


	10. Following and Watching pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what goes on when reader is being a stalker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *DRAMATIC ENTRANCE* here we go~
> 
> thanks for your patience and ~230 kudos, 50 bookmarks and 4000+his guys!!
> 
> Enjoy!!!

If a person asked you for an explanation as to the reason you were doing this...you probably wouldn’t know how to answer them. They wouldn’t understand. You simply must. There’s something deep inside you, telling you that you have to. Something you’d long since buried...Perhaps this was your way of finally letting go, finding closure, you’d found what you’d been seeking--but what could you do about that? The mage had said to find the child and you did and they led you to _THEM._

What else was there that you could do? 

So you followed...so you watched...

\- - - -

The human child was strange, but when you watched closely you could see that they weren’t alone. You could see them--a second soul, a dark shade of red to the child’s, circling each other in harmony in the small human body they shared. Odd, but in your years...there had been much stranger things. You had suspicions about them--- it was a bit too early to tell, but from their souls alone it was a possibility... You rubbed your chest absently.

The school the child attended did not seem as...accepting as it may have been, other human children were almost too quick to fight other children: human or monster. It didn’t matter. 

That particular day they were pulled away from many of the other children by the trees that grew around the edge of the school grounds, where you had been silently watching, hidden amongst the leaves. 

“You think you’re so special, huh freak?”--“Why don’t you say anything, weirdo?”--“What’cha going to do now that your monster friends aren’t here to protect you?” Cruel words... _“Abomination!” “Monster.” “D e m o n.”_ The child responded oddly though and they were rewarded by being slammed into the tree. Cruel actions... _Slaps across your face, whips at your back, your skull beneath a heavy boot..._ Cruel souls... The darker red one grew brighter and burned with DETERMINATION and the child’s soul in response reacted, circling around the darker one.

You did not watch any longer.

The wind blew, scattering the leaves and revealing your presence as you hopped down to the lower branches, staring right at the children, who screamed and ran away, as the child lay at the base of the tree.

They were hurt, you smelled blood, heard their breath coming out short. They shakily stood and you took a chance and pressed a larger red leaf in front of their face. You watched them tense and carefully, slowly placed your hand near their injury. The blood was tempting...but not for you. 

You moved it back inside them slowly, feeling it circulate around their brain, easing the tension, shifting the flow to a gentle pace. The wound closed over and the child’s breathing and blood flow settled. Their soul and its companion settled back down as well. The manacle on your wrist glowed steadily brighter and grew more and more heavy, burning, piercing, stabbing--all matter of pain as a glowing chain appeared attached to it. Your punishment for using magic without permission: invoking your chains and their anti-magic restrictions. (Seen Loveless? Kinda like that)

You leapt up into the trees at the next wind gust and into the tree, watching as the child looked at the leaf and took it back with them to school.

Your suspicions were confirmed as you had a closer look at their souls, a familiar power, a familiar presence... But why notice it now? And not before when you had saved them, used their blood in a simple spell? No you were too distracted by Sans, Fuku, and you’re own hunger to have noticed...Bloodlust impaired your mind, like it almost had when the child was bleeding...

You left Frisk and found yourself on the roof of their home later that day, only moving to another tree to watch them from the window of their room. They seemed to talk to a golden yellow flower with a face. The same kind of flowers you found around the mountain...There were plant monsters before...but no one quite so...simple, a talking, moving flower...”Flowey” the child sometimes called(signed) them or...”Asriel” when **they** spoke--the other soul.

 **They** were called “Chara”, by the flower. They were talking about you and a “plan”. It was best to keep your distance after all and if Frisk or Chara were anything like your former master...nothing would stop them until they had their way.

_**Nothing.** _

\- - - -

The fire child, Fuku, attended another school a ways further into the town. She was just as you remembered: green, quiet, and bright. She would go to school with the same purple plasma monster in the same uniform she wore, only with a hat and a skateboard and sneakers. They and many other students talked about a holiday coming up: Halloween.

You knew it well. It was the only time humans wore costumes and received candy, unlike what the holiday used to be: All Hallow’s Eve. You sometimes walked amongst them, it was one of the only times you walked around freely amongst the humans.

Now that monsters were on the surface world once again, perhaps you should forgo the holiday altogether.

You followed Fuku and her friend “Iko”, but you found they were not just “friends”. You watched from the roofs of various buildings as Iko slung her arm around Fuku’s shoulders or gave her a kiss on her fiery cheek.

Their souls glowed in tandem, bright green and bright purple, but you saw some flecks of red within Fuku’s soul whenever she passed some humans on the street, all of them glaring at her or some other monsters, some throwing insults at her, or roughly bumping into her on purpose just to yell more insults and curses as they made their way.

You silently watched this, how often it happened, staring into the humans’ souls...and you watched how Iko quickly led Fuku away each time, her bright purple soul glowing. She protected Fuku, kept her safe, endured the words and hateful stares, as Fuku’s fire dimmed and Iko’s hair writhed with contained restraint.

They did not deserve such cruelty-- _the demeaning stares down a person’s nose, the cold looks: full of hate and mistrust and fear..._ You hadn’t realized you were using magic until the chains appeared attached to your manacles: controlling, making them move using their blood flow in a way to not raise any suspicion, the humans to just keep walking past them after that, you made sure they never approached them, just to keep walking past them. 

Doing so, invoked your restraints often and more so as you used your magic, you almost caught Fuku looking around as if she knew she was being watched. That wasn’t possible, the mask you wore had one of the strongest binding spells and concealment spells placed on it when it was made and later the witch added the memory spells and illusion spells--you left no traces.

They weren’t of use to you now, however, such spells worked on humans, but not always on monsters. They were made of magic after all, at best your concealment spells would work, but not the memory or illusions spells.

They wouldn’t know and as far as you knew they never would.

That was until one night you were watching her and...him from the building across the bar and you thought she could see you when she looked out her window and you chose to leap to the roof of her building instead. You make your way away from the building, your chain was finally fading. But you heard and felt magic from behind you and turned to see Fuku landing outside the bar from her window.

Green magic...

You had no time to think and started running, chains rattling behind you. WAIT...You fool! Of course! You darted off elsewhere, but Fuku was persistent running at full speed after you. If she kept this up it would take all night and that would cause complications with him...

You stop at a building, close to a park and you see her run into it, looking around, not noticing the drunken humans: “Lookie wha we got ‘ere boys! A girl all by ‘er lonesome! Why don’t we---”

**N O.**

You reached your hand out and felt the first human’s blood flow, you stopped it altogether for a full few seconds and he dropped to the ground. The others were next, one by one they fell, until the last tried to run, he too fell. This reactivated your chains, but you no longer cared.

She stared at them all, green flames waving erratically in her fear and you silently came up behind her and put her to sleep with your magic. This activated the chain around your neck and you grimaced, but let her fall into you. Her clothes kept her from your chains and you were careful not to let them touch her exposed flames as you picked her up and carried her home, jumping from roof to roof, quickly.

Once you came upon her home above the bar you jumped up to her window and stepped inside. You set her gently on her bed and make your way to leave, but as you’re making your way out the window you see several pictures on her desk: one of her and _him_ , one of her and Iko, and one of her, Iko, _him_ , Sans, a taller skeleton in a red scarf and white armor: _Papyrus_ , the human child, the flower with a face, a fish monster, a yellow lizard monster, the King, the Queen, several dog monsters, and the old turtle.

So they were all alive...You then slipped from her window and into the night, but you look back and see she’s at her window as you disappear over a building.

You’d have to keep your distance from her now, she’d almost seen you, several times. You couldn’t risk it.

She recovered quicker than you’d thought, but you suppose that was because she was a healer by nature, her green flames could attest to it. 

She was still young...she’d be a powerful healer when she grew up. 

\- - - -

You had already seen Sans, but you hadn’t seen much of Papyrus: except for the photo on Fuku’s desk.. By the picture, he was nearly as tall if not taller than him. 

You didn’t know much about the younger skeleton, so you watch him from a distance, he was very loud and lively, speaking and moving with such energy you’d only ever seen in young human children. He always wore a red scarf, and occasionally a strange suit of armor, like in the photo: a white chest plate with the royal seal on the chest, white shoulder guards, red gloves and boots, blue shorts(?) and black under-suit, his bones all covered up. 

You watched him interact with his brother, who seemed to say a lot of things that made Papyrus upset, but he seemed to smile anyway. Or when he’d interact with “Undyne”, a blue-fish monster with long red hair and one missing eye. 

He occasionally called her “Captain” so she must be the current Captain of the Royal Guard. That would explain the dogs in armor from Fuku’s photo, who’d you also seen enter the bar. They were also guardsmen. She and Papyrus trained almost daily. He was much more powerful than he seemed: right eye burning a bright orange as they exchanged bones and spears.

He had a close relationship to the King, as did Undyne. Papyrus worked in the flower shop the King owned, but due to Frisk’s health he had remained home to watch them and the shop had been attacked as well.

That did not sit well with you.

You visited the flower shop that same night. There were cruel words, not worth thinking about nor repeating, painted across the walls and roof, the windows were smashed, their was water damage everywhere, and there lay damaged and dying flowers everywhere. 

You got to work, collecting the dead flowers and throwing them out, collecting the excess water into the buckets and taking a knife you keep hidden at your back, you slice your wrists and mix the blood into the water, turning it red before setting to work on the paint. You ignored the chains and your--steadily healing over-- cuts and the way the bandages usually around your hands loosened. You could place everything back to how it was later.

You found a broom and swept away the glass, while your blood worked the walls...you got dizzy part-way and your magic faltered, but not yet... _Not Yet._

You pushed past your hunger and rising bloodlust, when you were done: you left the water/blood to drain down the street and went out to hunt-- _the same craving: flooding you, the smells:tempting you, the taste: mouthwatering, thick, and warm, the thrill it gave you of the chase..._

You don’t remember much after leaving the shop and making your way back to the house, but when you regain your senses, there are the corpses of several deer and wolves around you. You’re in a forest, most likely the forest by the mountain. You’re covered in blood and find a nearby river to wash it off. There were several patches of wildflowers among the trees and bushes--there's something familiar about the forest, the flowers...but the thought quickly leaves you as you think back to the shop, you collect several bouquets of them and herbs that grew around the forest the witch had shown you before.

Flowers in hand, you made your way back to the shop in the early hours of the morning before the sun rose and deposited them into the bucket with fresh water. And no sooner had you done so that you had to go, hearing the quick yet heavy sound of boots making their way closer and you hid yourself on the nearest building’s roof.

You saw Papyrus arrive and stare at the shop, with his mandible open and sockets shifted in confusion. You watched as Undyne and the King arrived, also equally bewildered by the shop and you watch them commend Papyrus for doing so, even when he denied it.

You left them like that, the chains of your restraints rattling.

...He had grown up well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more part and then we can get to HALLOWEEN (it's july but IDC)
> 
> Leave me comments, they make my day!!


	11. Following and watching pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> continuation of reader being a stalker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this too all of my stories but I apologize for the lack of updates I will not go into detail but it has been busy as of late around my house and on top of that I injured myself and was unable to write do to the injury (nothing serious don't worry) and I put off posting chapters just to just update them all at once as an UNBIRTHDAY GIFT to my Readers for all their support and love and patience. :) <3
> 
> Thank you guys so much for your: 250 kudos, 55 bookmarks, and 4450+hits!!
> 
> PART 2 of Your UN-Birthday Gift~ ENJOY!!

In contrast to his younger brother, Sans was...different.

Sans worked many strange jobs and slept at most all of them. You’d followed him throughout his work shifts enough to know how he spends his time “working”.

You’d find him slumped against the stall he ran in the middle of the park, one sign or other in place. You would casually sit above him on a tree branch, he hardly ever looked that far up or you’d stay against the back of a tree trunk. 

When humans approached him, it was usually not for buying the “hotdogs” and “hotcats” he sold. They were usually insults and sneers at him and he’d just make strange comments until they left. Or something else, you weren’t sure exactly what, but by the feeling of cold magic and the small wisps of blue from his left socket, you could guess he threatened them if they did not leave him be. Then he’d go back to sleep.

After a while you started doing the “work” for him. If a human tried to approach him you’d redirect them elsewhere with your magic, it didn’t matter if they were children or adults or their animals.

At his other job at a shop called the “NICE CREAM SHOPPE”, you’d watch from another shop across the street, as he dozed on the counter, head propped up in one hand. It was too cold for “nice cream”. Occasionally someone, usually monsters and the occasional human, would stop in and he’d wake up as if he were never asleep and do his job, but then go straight back to “sleep”. The humans that visited the shop were mostly children or younger adults and most of them did not give him any trouble.

Then there was the Librarby--oh which you were certain the spelling of the word was always as such you suppose--and he would sit at the front desk either reading some science books or napping until someone came in, again usually monsters...and so on.

If by day he went nearly everywhere across the town for work, at night you could find Sans at _his_ bar...”Grillby’s”. You stayed on a different roof, one not in view of Fuku’s room, and watched as each time he went in there was a chorus of his name, some barking, some howls and some inebriated slurs. 

The two of them seem close, not as close as _he_ was with **him** , but close. You usually leave him after a few minutes of watch them. You saw no point and sticking around, most humans didn’t go to that bar anyway.

Still Sans made you think...

Over your time observing Sans you’d noticed that he gave off this feeling of resignation, there were dark shadows under his sockets and the lights inside them were dim, as compared to Papyrus. The two of them were near complete opposites, which was not that rare among twins, but...even when they were merely less than a minute apart something about Sans felt much older.

You had a similar feeling to the human child, they and the other soul they carried were much older than they were soul-wise. You could speculate the reasons why, but perhaps you’ll never know. That was fine with you. However, something about it did not sit well with you. 

Then one night, after following him home to the mansion, you felt a sharp spike of magic energy and you went around the house to Sans’s window. The blinds on the window were closed, but still the blue light of his magic shone through.

You heard the sounds of his muffled groans and cries and you were about to peer closer, hanging upside down on the roof, but you heard the heavy steps of Papyrus and he slams his brother door open with a loud cry of “SANS!!” and you can hear Sans crying and rattling of bones, as the magic slowly dissipates.

You leave when the familiar feeling of **his** magic enters the room and make your way off of the roof and quickly onto the next in one leap, casting the mansion one last look before setting off for the house.

He had certainly grown up, like his brother, but more in mind than body...and there was the matter of his magic, Sans was strong certainly, but fragile. He had the other monsters though and the child, his brother, **his father**...he would be fine.

\- - - -

_He_ was different now. Much older. A different fire to him, a different _name_ , and a different job.

From your memories he was a fighter--a soldier, a captain, a general...Now he owned a tavern, a bar: “Grillby’s”. He worked behind the bar, mixing drinks and serving 2 things as food: “burgers and fries”. Fuku worked there occasionally when she could, most likely due to her education, but he was always there.

Convenient since he and Fuku both lived above the bar.

You had never gone inside. The closest you ever were near the bar was the time Sans had taken **him** there and you watched _**their**_ reunion from the adjacent building’s rooftop. Since then almost always went to the opposite building’s roof, much taller, and much less chance of being seen.

That was until one day you decided to pass by the bar on your way to following Sans on his usual days at work, you found humans lurking around the alleyway by the bar. You stopped at the roof of the bar to observe.

“--ya sure this is the place?” “‘Course!” “It aint even open yet.” “Shut the F*ck up or it’ll hear you!” They were all dressed like the humans you’d seen around the city. What caught your attention were the weapons they had. They appeared to be firearms, but instead of bullets they shot water--

_**N o. U n a c c e p t a b l e.** _

You jumped down amongst them and used the knife you carried to slice your own wrists, freeing your blood and allowing it to loosely wrap around your body like a sharp whip, slicing their weapons to pieces and water spilling everywhere. The chains glowed fierce and burned your neck and your wrists and your ankles, but you paid it no mind. You gave the humans no time to scream as you sliced into their flesh with your blood, shifting it to form spikes which burst through each of the humans’ necks.

They choked and bled out slowly, feeding into the blood spires which impaled them until they withered away into nothing. Your chains clanked and rattled all the while. Once it was over your blood pooled itself back into your body and you calmed down from your rage. 

_He_ was still in his bar, but his magic was erratic, distressed...You opened the back door and stepped in, chain rattling all the while as you passed through a hall and into the kitchen, devoid of fire magic, which you felt would normally be there and into the bar. Tables and chairs were stacked around the room, save for one which was covered in playing cards. The shelves behind the bar fully stocked with different types of ales: magical or not and the whole places was of a polished dark wood and illuminated by hanging lights, lit by fire magic.

You found _him_ lying behind the bar, flames a low orange and blue and yellow. He was unconscious. You lifted a shackled arm and the clinking chains caused his flames to shift. You left him there and leapt over the bar to look over the bar and heard the small crunches of broken glass beneath your feet.

There was a broken glass there. You looked back to the fire elemental on the floor and quietly sliced a finger open, letting the blood drip onto the glass and proceeded to take every piece of it and piece it together, a glass covered in cracked filled with red. 

You sat on one of the stools and turned the glass over in your hands watching as flames reflected in the glass, cast small bits of light around the room. 

. . . What were you doing? After taking in blood, _killing_ humans...what were you doing there? You get off the stool and leap over the bar again, only to land softly on the floor by his side. You’re about to place the repaired glass down next to him, but pocket it instead and take your leave from the bar.

You resumed your position above the bar until it opened, never moving, so your chains wouldn’t rattle. You only turned the glass over and over in your hands, until letting it drop to shatter again on the roof of the building and making your way back to the house.

After that you’d only pass by the bar or stay on the higher roof tops, farther away. You couldn’t get closer. You’d be a fool to do so. In any case, there was nothing else for you there.

Not anymore.

\- - - -

You never saw **him** unless he left the mansion to go to the bar with Sans, you could feel the magic each time they left.

And since you never went into the bar you hardly ever saw him anyway. You’re not aware of what he does now. 

You simply feel his magic, a little farther underground of the mansion, an underground room? Basement? He spent his time there with the yellow lizard monster or Sans sometimes, and occasionally the human child or Papyrus.

Most days he was alone, but at night he’d go somewhere else, more than likely to his home. But tonight you found him in a room at the ground floor towards the back of the house. It was more than likely his room. He paced back and forth in front of his bed.

He wore a thick turtleneck under a long white coat and dark slacks, glasses somehow remaining on his face. He was deep in thought and his mouth was pulled into a worried line. He still looked the same, except that his face had cracks running from both his sockets, one up and the other down, holes through the palms of his hands. 

He rubbed at his hands absently as he moved, back and forth across the room, and then he looked out the window towards you and you made your escape, by jumping up onto the roof. You felt a flare of magic rush through you as, for a split second his eyes looked at you.

You left quickly after that, not wanting to think about what could’ve happened if he’d seen you.

\- - - -

Now it was the day the monsters as well as every other human had been preparing for: Halloween. The city was decorated for the occasion, pumpkins, witches--what humans thought of as “witches” was strange to you still--, monster masks, spider cobwebs, black and orange...

This holiday seemed the same to you every year and you were no longer sure if you wanted to leave the house. When you’d started living with her, she insisted you go out with her to give out candies to the human children...She had been looking forward to this year’s Halloween, but now that the monsters were free, could you risk going out?

You’ve already had several close encounters and could you risk everything now? Would you? Should you? You owe them...owe them EVERYTHING. You sat on the floor of your room, facing the wrapped bundle leaning against the wall.

You breathed deep and let it out. You had to know. What more did you have to lose? You had nothing left.

You make your way out of the house and once again find yourself standing on the roof, looking up at a dark, clouded sky, no stars or moon to be seen. You leap off the roof, making you way towards the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UP NEXT: HALLOWEEN!! STRAP IN AND HOLD ON GUYS!
> 
> As always: leave me comments and feedback! it makes me happy.


	12. Spooks and Scares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trick or Treating!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES SO JUST TAKE THIS!  
> Thanks for the support and patience and fanart!
> 
> Fanart by marguarita33:  
> http://marguarita33.tumblr.com/post/149702706053/fanart-of-the-fanfic-where-fire-burns-and-cast
> 
> Fanart from CruxL:  
> http://imgur.com/LBSDTVq

It’s HALLOWEEN and Frisk (and Chara) couldn’t be more excited! They were going trick or treating with theirs friends and then later going to Grillby’s for a Halloween party. They were currently waiting for everyone else to arrive and for Toriel and Asgore to finish changing into their costumes. **I hope we get chocolate.** _Of course! We’ll get lots of candy!_ “Hey Frisk how are we going to set your “plan” in motion?” Flowey asked. Frisk just smiled. It’s still a stupid plan. Frisk frowned. Flowey laughed at their expression.

Frisk huffed. They’d been waiting all month for this to happen and hopefully implement their plan. When they had finished dinner that evening, they immediately ran to their room with Flowey to change clothes while Asgore and Toriel cleaned up, laughing at their enthusiasm.

Frisk had dressed quickly and when they came out, Toriel and Asgore weren’t there, so they sat on the couch to wait for them. They were dressed in a black hoodie with white sleeves that looked like wrappings--the sleeves had little thumb holes too, they wore their brown cargo pants and boots and wore a mask they’d made out of paper mache--a replica of theirs: eyeholes and red lines, and the red leaf they’d gotten. Toriel had made them the costume based on a drawing they did, using Chara as a reference and they’d made the mask separately themselves. 

When their mom stepped into the room and saw them sitting there she flinched back and they saw the familiar spark of flames at her hands. She was dressed in her old robes as Queen of All Monsters, similar to Asgore’s outfit: crown, cloak, armor and all. Frisk put Flowey down and shifted their mask to the side of their head. _Mom?_ They signed. And she breathed and gave them a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “My child you scared me, but I suppose that’s what you wanted for today?” 

They nodded, but signed _I’m sorry._ Anyway. Chara and Flowey were unusually quiet. She composes herself and tells them, “Do not apologize, my child. You really got my goat.” She laughs and Frisk smiles as Flowey and Chara groan. Once she gets over her joke she tells them, “Come along now, Frisk. The others will be here soon.”

Frisk makes their way to the kitchen and Chara starts talking. **Did you see how she reacted?** Frisk made a vague nod, as Toriel busied herself in the kitchen, and the sound of Asgore’s steps proceeded him as he enter the living room. He was dressed in his formal robes, similar to Toriel’s, which white sleeves, high necked, purple and with the delta rune on the front, but his robes had long slits up the sides for his legs and he wore purple pants underneath. He paused for a moment to regard Frisk, his face serious and Frisk saw something dark flash across his face before he said, “Is that your costume Frisk?” 

Frisk nodded. **Dad’s acting strange too. Think they know something?**

“What are you supposed to be?” he asked. Flowey spoke up for them, “They said they were the spirit of Fall or something stupid like that.” “Flowey!”Asgore scolded, but they saw the slight shocked underneath the the mock-scolding.

Flowey simply shrugged and huffed while Toriel got Frisk’s pumpkin trick-or treating pail and handed it to them. And then there’s a knock on the door. “Oh that must be them!” Toriel says and she opens the door to find Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Fuku, MK, and Iko. 

Papyrus wore an orange pullover hoodie with black cargo shorts and orange and white sneakers. “TINY HUMAN! WHAT DO YOU THINK?!” He asked, scooping Frisk up high in the air. Frisk giggled and gave him a thumbs up. He even had an orange lollipop in his mouth. Sans wore light grey armor, blue boots, gloves and a blue neckerchief. “Heh. never thought i’d actually wear this thing.” Sans muttered, light blue blush on his face as Frisk looked him over before giggling at him.

Alphys wore a black tanktop and pants, and medical tape around her claws and wore makeup to appear as though she had scars and an eyepatch while Undyne wore her lab coat, glasses, her hair dun up in a bun and a black and red-polkadot dress. “Sup, little boss? You ready for tonight?!” Undyne said. Alphys fidgeted but managed a “hello” at them, slightly uncomfortable. MK was in his knight costume--”I’m part of the Royal guard, yo!” He’d said. 

Fuku waved with a blue baseball hat over her green flames, blue kneepads and elbow pads, blue sneakers, and blue skateboard. Her green flames tinted a bit red around her face. Iko, Fuku’s girlfriend, wore her plasma-like hair upwards for once, exposing her black and purple eyes, and properly wore her school uniform. They too, kept up the “Swap” idea. “Heya Frisky-bits!” Iko said. Fuku waved.

Frisk clapped and signed _You guys look amazing! You’re all swapped!_ **This gives me a strange feeling...** Chara says. Flowey scoffs at them. Toriel comes out of the kitchen, “Oh wonderful everyone is here. Shall we head out now my child?” she asks.

Frisk nods vigorously, eager to get the night started. Undyne and Papyrus and MK follow suit, “YEAH!--This is going to be EPIC!--NYEH HEH HEH!--This is gonna be awesome, yo!”

\- - - -

It’s the night of Halloween. The dark clouds above painted an eerie night and a faint mist hovered around the city, while the outskirts of the town remained clear. 

You were jumping rooftops, rather than walking the streets tonight. There were too many monsters out. You’d rather not have any monster recognize you, however slim the chance may be... The only monsters you recognize--those who lived to see the surface again after all this time--are the King, Queen, the two of them, Sans, Papyrus, Fuku--however young the three of them were--and...You pause on the roof of a shop, where across the street, the old turtle monster is giving out candy. Him too.

You did not know his name, but you knew he was also there at that time. As if sensing your gaze, despite your mask, he paused from giving a child candy and looked up and you hid from view. He was old, but no less sharp it seemed. You carefully maneuvered out of sight and slipped away. All around below you, were children with candy baskets and bags in various monster costumes or monsters in...human costumes? (mostly just monster children wearing striped sweaters in various colors and masks depicting human faces) or monsters dressed as other monsters...odd.

Even amongst the crowd of costumes, what seemed to concern you most were the humans with monsters masks...They were scattered throughout the crowd and seemed to not be doing anything hostile, but it seemed odd to you. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong, but you were still on edge. 

Before you really know what you’re doing you find yourself at the mansion: empty, the bar: full of monsters, including the two of them. _He_ was oddly wearing a lab coat and turtleneck and **he** was in a vest, bowtie, slacks, and shiny black shoes, including his glasses.

Despite the two of _**them**_ being there, the others were not. You leave them be and continue your search across the town.

\- - - -

Frisk and the others had gone through most of the houses down the blocks, getting their candy, talking to monsters, dressed as humans, and humans, dressed as monsters, ate a few pieces of candy along the way with Flowey, particularly when Toriel wasn’t looking, but also keeping an eye out for a cracked mask with bleeding eyes. 

Undyne and Papyrus, as usual, were the most excited apart from Frisk and MK, but that could also be due to them challenging each other to see who would have the most candy by the end of the night. Sans and Alphys were less enthusiastic, but after about an hour or two they were getting more comfortable in their costumes. Alphys was as painfully shy as when Frisk had their pretend “date” with her, hiding in trash cans whenever she got startled. Sans wasn’t comfortable walking in his boots, so Papyrus ended up carrying him like usual anyway, which caused Undyne to search for Alphys to do the same. Both Sans and Alphys seemed more at ease with their other halves. Asgore and Toriel got a lot of attention, being royalty, and many monsters and humans greeted them in some way, while everyone else got their candy. And Iko and Fuku had to leave to help Grillby with the preparations, but they got their fair share of candy before they left.

Chara got more and more excited as Frisk got many different kinds of chocolate they never got to try before and they were really impatient. They were pacified whenever Frisk would switch with them so they could eat the chocolates themselves. It was a good thing they wore the mask. Flowey grumbled from his pot in a wagon, scared off several kids, and even scared some of the people giving out candy, which Frisk had to scold him for as Chara encouraged and laughed in their head.

Toriel and Asgore ended up with his wagon when he did it again to some teenagers who were openly videotaping his antics. He wasn’t really happy about being close to the two of them still, after everything. So when he was passed off to them he grew quiet and brooding.

“Yo Frisk Come on!” MK called after them and they were reluctant to do so. They looked back at Flowey. “Just go already!” Flowey yelled at them, bristling. They walked back over to give him a couple of their candies and then trotted off after MK. “My child, this will be our last block for the night and then we’re heading to Grillby’s!” Toriel called and they waved at her and nodded.

They walked up the steps of the house and get their candy from someone dressed in a thick cloak, looking much like the river person, as they sat on a cushioned bench by the front door. They pulled out wrapped candy bags from within their cloak to Frisk and MK, where they lay atop their other candies. 

\- - - -

You were in a large tree, its leaves fluttering in a light breeze, the colors of fire: red, golden-brown, yellow, orange, some catching on the wind and blowing around you as you sat amongst the branches, watching people pass underneath you on the street. No one looked up, and if they did they’d simply look away as if you weren’t there. You’re not certain whether the spells on your mask were working then, but that didn’t matter to you.

You were steadily getting more and more restless and your chest hurt--that seal had been inactive for centuries and now after all this time...it wasn’t fully broken. It had cracked, but it wasn’t gone. You must find the child soon. They were in danger and the magic placed within you was reacting to it. You had not even formed the pact and you already were bound to the child.

You were a fool to presume otherwise. As long as one of them lives you are bound to serve. You would never be free. You knew this. Your hands bit into the bark of the tree, causing it to creak under the pressure of your grip. You let out a long breath and got out of the tree and jumped to the nearest rooftop, that was until the wind blew in your face, carrying with it the scent of fresh split blood. 

\- - - -

They couldn’t find MK. After they’d stepped off the steps of the house, they’d noticed him missing. They frantically looked around for him, but he wasn’t anywhere. **He might be on the floor Frisk. You know how much he trips.** They knew he tripped and fell a lot and he had a tendency to wander around, but they had a bad feeling. They were frantically looking around and when they finally stopped turning in circles it’s because a blue gloved hand is at their shoulder. 

“Kid? What’s wrong?” Sans asked, and Frisk turned to him frantically signing, I can’t find MK. Sans’s forehead pinched. Then Sans’s eye sockets shifted from white pinpricks to one empty socket and one flaming blue eye. This startled Frisk for a moment before Sans took a defensive stance in front of them.

“Something’s not right.” he murmured. **Smiley trash bag is right for once. Something’s wrong, Frisk.** The crowd of trick or treaters was dwindling, but some people remained. Adults to teens they guessed, all wearing monster themed masks over their costumes. Frisk shivered as one in a Vegetoid mask looked at them. Frisk-- Then it happened, like a switch had been triggered. Those who wore monster masks, descended upon the crowd, running straight for anyone and everyone who could be monsters.

It was chaos. They were ripping off masks and costumes, knocking out monsters and children and taking them. There was so much screaming and running and fighting. Frisk clung to Sans’s back in fear. In their head, Chara was giving off and dark murderous aura. “EAT THIS HUMANS!” Undyne started throwing spears and cages of bones erupted from the ground as Papyrus trapped the humans, forcing them to release their monster captives. Other adult monsters were busy fending off the attackers as best they could and Toriel and Asgore were also stepping in, flames in hand. Alphys found her way over to them and she spoke quickly and urgently.

“Sans go. I can watch Frisk.” she was shaking like a leaf but her gaze didn’t waver, even amongst the screaming. Sans wavered but Frisk let go of his back to push him towards Papyrus, who was engaged in a fight with several humans now. Sans cast them one look and ruffled their hair before he disappeared in a flash of blue light and was instantly at his brother’s side.

Alphys then took their hand and ran off to the nearest house to get away from the fighting, they dodged people and had some monsters follow them to the back alleys around the houses, jumping fences if they needed to. **We shouldn’t get too far from everyone.** “Damn where is that kid and that lizard?!” “Forget the lizard! We need the kid!” “They went this way i saw them--” So that was it these people were after them. Everyone out there was in danger because of them. Alphys looked at them in horror, slacking her grip for just a second. **Frisk, don’t do anything stupid!** Frisk tore their hand from Alphys’s and ran out, getting the attention of four figures, one of them the one in the Vegetoid mask, another a Loox, a Froggit, and an Ice Cap.

“There they are!” “Come back here you little ****!” Frisk ran, away from the fighting, away from Alphys, someone made a call. “We got them! Get out!” Frisk ran, but more and more of the people with the masks were blocking their exits. Frisk they’re herding us. Lemme take over. Frisk refused. They didn’t want to fight-- **Frisk they aren’t really giving you a choice!! BUT I AM!**

While they were distracted they failed to dodge something as it hit the back of their head...hard. Frisk vision blurred while Chara screamed and cursed in their head, making their headache worse and there was a pounding in their ears, along with muffled voices, and the feeling of the cold hard ground.

\- - - -

Chara opened their eyes. Frisk was quiet in their head, knocked out, and Chara could feel how sluggish their shared body was. They felt themselves being carried like a sack under someone’s arm, but also heard distant screams as they stopped. From their vantage point, which was them facing down, they saw a knife handle and instantly grabbed it, pulling it from its sheath and slashing across the back of whoever was holding them.

They immediately let go of Chara and Chara dropped to the ground rolling, and had the knife ready. There were only 3 now:the ones in the Ice Cap mask, Froggit mask, and Loox mask. They were standing scattered in the middle of the street, a good few feet from the car. The one they’d slashed on the back, the person in the Vegetoid mask, was on the ground in pain, bleeding from the deep wound at Chara’s side.

Chara stared up at the remaining three, knife pointed in their direction. Their head throbbed and their vision was blurry, but they could make out an open trunk of a black car with no plate. Inside the trunk was MK, semi-unconscious. “F-fri..sk...” he said weakly, struggling to make his way over to them, like snake. _M...K..._ Frisk was waking up.... _H-elp..._

Chara didn’t respond to either of them, but they felt a hand grip their leg and pull and instant had their knife ready for a strike, even with their pounding head they managed a decent cut on the man’s arm, and he was bleeding more steadily, “****” they heard him and several others curse.

There’s also the distant sounds of sirens and the battle looming closer and closer. A particularly loud “BOOM” and twin beams of blue and orange lights upwords, makes it deathly quiet. Chara knows that it’s the skeleton brothers. They use the distraction to take MK, and quickly hid him in front of some bushes in front of a house.

Chara had a strange feeling overcome them. A tugging at their soul, but not a confrontation...something else...The world seemed to fall away and they and Frisk stood in a field of flowers, a figure on the other side of it their back to them. Chara and Frisk ran towards the figure, arms outstretched to grab onto them. Just as the figure was turning around, Chara and Frisk were snapped out of the vision.

They had ran straight back into the middle of the street and into the hands of their captors. The Loox mask, held them by the shirt and by their knife arm, while the Ice Cap mask took the knife away. And the Froggit mask punches them hard in the face, knocking their mask off and causing their head to spin...blacking out.

There was the echoing sound of metallic clinking in their head, as they slipped into darkness.

\- - - -

You made chase after the smell of the blood on the wind, coming to rest atop the roof of a house. There had been a fight and several streets over you could still see flashes of red and blue lights and the shouts and cries of both monsters and humans. 

You had jumped down into the small alley between the two houses, scaring a young couple who were in the middle of inebriated coupling, but you ran out towards something laying in the middle of the street that catches your eye. A pool of blood, fresh, but not the child’s and a mask, similar to yours, but it also had an old torn, faded red maple leaf attached to it. It carried the scent of the human child.

You almost crush the mask in your hands. Who d a r e d-- You look around and find a pool of blood on the street, the pool shifted and pooled, floated up, and landed in their hand in a swirling red sphere. You ignored the restraint on your hand, manacle glowing white and chain forming. The child has been taken... by humans!!...When you found them...there would be N O M E R C Y. The blood almost boiled and burst in your hand, but you quickly condense it back and pocketing it.

Then you hear a faint groan, and you track the sound to some bushes in front of a house. You peel back the bushes to find a small yellow monster child in armor. They were semi-conscious, their scales turning a dark purple over one of their eyes, and their costume rumpled, but they were alive. “F-fr..fri...sk....” he muttered. So they knew the child...

You hear voice call out, “MK! FRISK?! WHERE ARE YOU?” You must make haste. You slice into your finger with a nail and draw a symbol on the wall by the child, placing the partially crushed mask over the child’s chest and then move away from the child. You take out a knife, slice into your hand and quickly draw a spell circle into the ground with your blood. You place the leaf in the center, reciting a spell: 

_[O leaf on the wind, I watch thee soar._  
_Take me to they whose face thy did bore._  
_For I am theirs and they for me._  
_As I will, so mote it be]_

The circle glowed and lifted itself off the ground and into leaf turning it a deeper red and flew up to circle you, and at the same time the manacle around your wrist, where you’d cut your hand, glowed white and a single chain formed. The two chains rattled along with the leaf, circling around you. The noise attracted attention, as you were certain it would. You jumped high into the air following the leaf as, out of the alley, the fish woman and the lizard woman came to see what was going on.

“MK!” you hear one of them yell just as you landed on a house roof, continuing to follow the leaf and heard the shoutings of the women behind you as the leaf raced towards the old part of the town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next time: We all having a bloody bad time.
> 
> Stay Determined.
> 
> Comment and poke and nag me please! (my busy work schedule might as well have some flair in it!!)


	13. A Bloody Bad Time Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> F I G H T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha this took forever, but i got some vacation time and will use it accordingly!!
> 
> Thanks for your patience and support! ~325 kudos, 70 bookmarks and +6100 hits
> 
> here's the chapter~

_It’s dark and his vision is hazy, his brother sleeping close to him ,curled up their tails intertwined. They’re both curled up on their father’s chest. He hears footsteps coming closer to their home. He slips himself into a protective stance and growls at the entrance to their home, where moonlight is pouring through. A figure appears, but a shadow conceals their face. He perks up and bounds towards them, as they kneel down to receive him._

_“~~~~~~” They say. He nuzzles into their dark cloak and cold fingers caress his skull. He looks up into a face crying blood._

“-ther...Brother?...Sans?....SANS!” He jolts awake in Papyrus’s hold. “Pap?” he croaked, tired, rubbing his skull. What the hell was that dream about?

Papyrus looked relieved. “Thank The Stars...” Sans sat up. They were in Grillby’s, along with a bunch of other monsters who looked tired, but no worse for wear. There was sobbing and some muffled voices though. Suddenly, he’s being picked up and squeezed to death by Papyrus.

“Papyrus?” he questioned, but he felt his brother’s orange tears and how he trembled. “Bro? What’s wrong?” he asked, looking around and he spotted his dad by a distraught Toriel and Asgore. Gaster walked over immediately upon seeing he was awake.

 _ **“54n5? 4r3 y0u 4lr19h7? D0 y0u r3m3mB3r Wh47 h4pP3neD?”**_ (Translation: Sans? Are you alright?Do you remember what happened?") Gaster’s hand glowed purple and Sans felt the cool, thick, maybe somewhat sludge-like, magic flow through his bones, if not for a few moments before his father staggered. “Father!” Papyrus cried, but he was quickly steadied by Grillby. His flames dimmer than usual, but flickering colors in his distress.

“Fuku!” When was the last time he heard Grillby’s voice so loud? It was the crackle of logs in a fire and Fuku’s green flames came into view, and Sans felt a steady gentle warmth of her magic pour into him. Fuku excelled at healing and shield magics, she had no signs of fatigue whatsoever either. Iko was right by her side.

“I-i’m so sorry, Sans.” she cried yellow flames. Iko rubbed her shoulders and back trying to comfort her. Gaster was made to sit by them in another chair, which Grillby eased him into, before he left to help care for some other monsters.

“whaddya talkin’ ‘bout fuku?” he said sleepily. Fuku’s words turn into garbled cracks and muffled slurs of fire speech and Iko fully embraces her, muttering to her in a similar, but more calming tone. The plasma of Iko’s hair shifts around gently to Fuku’s sharp cracks of green fire. Papyrus helped him into a free chair at one of the tables, where Undyne was curled up with a distraught looking Alphys. Papyrus and Undyne exchanged worried glances.

Sans could immediately tell something was off. Where was Toriel? Asgore? Flowey? Frisk? He looked frantically around the bar. He found them at the bar on two of the stools. Toriel was crying into her hands and Asgore was by her side, rubbing into her back his face grim. “Tori? Asgore?” Sans called, his voice cracking a bit.

Asgore looked up and so did Tori, both of them rushing over to him. “Sans thank the stars you’re alright! How are you feeling?” Asgore asked. Toriel just looked him over worriedly. “I’m fine, no bones about it.” he tried to joke, nobody laughed, Papyrus didn’t even gripe. “where’s frisk? And flowey?” Silence. **n o**. Sans sat up straighter, despite Papyrus’s weak protests. “Sans Please--You Can’t--” 

Papyrus’s blue magic brought him back. “lemme go pap. we-we can’t j-just---” he said his vision blurring, an unbearable weight on his shoulders and in his soul. What if the kid RESET? Loaded a SAVE? Even if they promised, Sans would have let them. But why haven’t they yet? A thousand scenarios of timelines flashed through his head, but they’d never gotten so far before--this was the longest timeline so far.

“The police are already investigating, Sans. We have been requested to remain at home, until they find anything, but as king I organized the guard to go look.” Asgore said, snapping Sans out of his thoughts. Sans saw the dog table was empty over Asgore’s shoulder. “They’re out searching as we speak.”

Sans wondered why Papyrus and Undyne were still here then. “Undyne has remained to take care of Alphys and I stayed for you Brother.” Papyrus whispered, as if reading his thoughts. Toriel had slumped to the floor in distress and Sans could almost see...no nonononononononono--- Toriel’s fur was grayer than he remembered her purple eyes dim, he watched her carefully and Sans felt as if time had slowed, her eyes drooping her for slipping and then slowly falling until she thudded against the floor.. “ **TORIEL!!!!** ” Asgore’s outcry shook the bar, as he nearly ran over a Loox and a Madjick to her side.

It was a blur of shouts and cries and shuffling, as she was crowded by monsters and Asgore picked her up while Grillby parted the crowd and escorted them to the back. There was a lot of talking, some panicking. Sans shut down, internally screaming, hoping the kid was going to be alright, that Toriel would recover, that someone would make the humans pay.

Papyrus only held him tighter as the translucent blue tears fell down his skull. Sans never wanted a LOAD so badly in his life.

\- - - -

Frisk was in and out if consciousness, alternating with Chara.--They were tied up and gagged. Their vision blurry, swirling white and blacks and greys.--The smell of old rotting wood, and dust, they sneezed, and alcohol and something like gas--Muffled voices, screams?---pain around their arms from struggling, the rope digging in--lots of dizziness....darkness.

Frisk opened there eyes to the, now torn, yellow flower garden. Chara stood in front of them, red eyes angry and fists clenched, their hands were stained yellow and green. The flowers around Frisk were almost instantly back to the way they were and Chara looks less messy. Their mind was as they shaped it after all...well almost.

They could feel the anger, the hatred, the fear from Chara, rolling off them like miasma, killing the flowers around them as soon as Frisk can revive them, a constant cycle of life and death. Their face was obscured by their hair, but Frisk could see the dark black-red liquid pour down their face and onto their green and yellow sweater, onto the dying flowers. They did not hesitate to walk up to Chara and hug them. Chara stiffened, but hugged back, tightly, nearly pushing the air from Frisk’s lungs. Frisk felt their sweater become damp and cold.

 **“We’re caught. Just like before. They’ll kill m---you--us. We can’t stay here, I-I can’t...we can’t...”** Chara trembled. Frisk trembled too they were scared. They were both scared. They didn’t want to die. They didn’t want to--they saw the buttons, fading flickering gold and cracked. They were breaking down, after so many shifts in time and space, so many timelines and universes...Chara looked back at them too, their red eyes back to normal.

 **“We could...they might hold up a few more tries...”** They walked over to them, slipping out of Frisk’s grasp. Frisk shook their head. _“We can’t. I promised.“_ **“Screw your promise with the trashbag! Do you want to DIE?!”** Chara screamed, red eyes flashing. Frisk shook their head. _“The buttons are breaking, even if I touch them we don’t know when we’ll end up. I haven’t loaded since we got out. We’d have to start all over again. Everything that’s happened....”_

Chara opens their mouth, but Frisk is woken up with ice cold water dumped over them, stinging the cuts in their wrists and where the gag dug into the corners of their mouth. They had to sputter and cough, water in their eyes. **“Frisk switch with me!** ” Chara screamed in their head. Frisk shook their head, both to get the water out of their eyes and deny them. **“This is no time to be a Pacifist you---”** Someone roughly grabbed their face and hefted them up. It’s the man Vegetoid Mask, he’s bandaged around his side.

He picks them up by the neck, cranks his fist back and-- **"FRISK!”** \--punches them squared in the face, they hear their nose break as they fly back onto the ground, hurting their bound arms, and knocking their head against it. It hurts...their blood in their eyes...their arms stung...they had to spit out some of their teeth, well they finally got some of their baby teeth out at least, and some blood from their nose.

Frisk heard yelling, ears still ringing though from the impact of the punch, then something heavy pressing onto their chest, restricting their air, more muffled yells. The weight presses harder and harder until they feel their ribs start to crack under the strain. Whoever this was they were trying to kill them. Frisk couldn’t do anything, Chara couldn’t do anything, they were going to die again. They started screaming they think, they’re too scared to be sure too hurt to be sure, for everyone: Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Asgore, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Gaster, Grillby, Fuku, anyone.

But Nobody came. Their eyes and head cleared a little, as the air was taken from them in their screaming, and they heard laughter, cruel laughter, covering the screaming and yelling, the Vegetoid Mask above them seeming all the more menacing. Until they see vines start to curl around the man.

“Howdy!” Flowey get into the man’s face, and he moves to swipe him, but misses. “Tsk tsk, not very polite are you?” Flowey pulls Vegetoid Mask away from them and Chara takes the chance and takes over, coughing. They start crawling away, as he contorts the man into unnatural forms. Chara and Frisk heard his bones break one by one, as Vegetoid’s muffled screams were taken in by Flowey’s thorny vines around his neck.

They looked around the room fully, It was some sort of abandoned warehouse-turned into a base camp, people in various dark clothes and masks were trapped in Flowey’s vines, their screams and cries muffled. Papers and boxes scattered everywhere, along with various weapons. However, Flowey was showing the strain of using so much magic, he was sweating, but the cruel expression only deepened on his face. 

His vines were less thick and not as pointy around the other captured humans than Vegetoid Mask. His focus on them as he muttered, **“D i e, d i e, d i e, d i e...”** Chara tried to warn him as the other humans started struggling more, seeing their opportunity. **“As--”** Too late, some of the humans escape from Flowey’s vines and pick up their guns and start shooting at his vines. He screams, forced to let go of the mangled corpse of the dead human, as he turns to hiss and scream at them, slapping some away, before having to protect himself and them as best her can from the bullets.

Chara tries to worm away from the shooting, staying as close to the ground, but they feel a few bullets whizz by above them, some hitting in front of them and some to their sides, they’re grazed by a few. But before they could get behind a crate, they feel a bullet go through their right leg. They bite their gag and lower lip to keep from screaming.

“Where is the kid?!” someone yells. “Holy shit that f*cking flower killed--” “--Find Them!!” There’s the sound of footsteps and Flowey pops up next to them, petals torn and his leaves have some holes, but he has a knife with him. He cuts off their gag. **“You’re late. Asriel.”** they say. “Yeah yeah.” Flowey says, cutting off their bonds on their hands and legs. “Chara...” he says, eyeing their wounded leg.

There’s screaming and the rapid sound of guns firing. They and Flowey stuck behind the crate, but they weren’t shooting at them, no, they were shooting at something else. “Who the F*CK is that?!” Someone said. “Shut up! Find the kid then we get out of here!” “Oh god, they’re not stopping--They’re not dying!!--Bullets aren’t working!!!” people screamed. Flowey and Chara look to each other and Chara takes the knife from Flowey with shaky hands. They’re afraid. 

_“Chara...”_ “Finally joined us Frisk?” They cough out. “Can’t you guys just--” Flowey says. He’s cut off by a metallic clinking. “They’re here?!--” he starts to say. There was more screaming, more gunfire, heavy thuds and clunks, and then nothing. Dead silence. Flowey had curled around Chara’s arm, and then had crawled up into their neck of their hoodie. They shook, dropping the knife, not daring to move, trying to keep their breathing even.

“What the hell--” Flowey started to say, and then a shadow passed over them, as well as an echoing metallic clinking. Chara looked up sharply, only to have their face covered by a red leaf. Frisk took back over in their shock. “Wh-who are you?!” Flowey cried, but no one answered. Frisk dropped the knife and took the leaf off their face. They jerked back from the figure that now crouched in front of them, the leaf fluttering into their lap and Flowey winding around their neck.

Just like them, the stranger wore in a tattered sleeveless hoodie, arms covered in old bandages, worn cargo pants and old boots, covered in more bandages? Tape? What struck them most was the thick glowing metal manacles around each of their wrists, ankles, and their neck, each with a chain attached with no visible end, and their face was covered by an old blank mask with bleeding eyeholes. Their bandaged hands hovered over Frisk’s injured leg. **“Frisk...this is...It’s THEM.”** Chara opened one red eye at the stranger. _**“It’s you.”**_ Chara said and Frisk signed at the same time. 

The stranger angled their mask up towards them and chills ran down their spine, as they kept their hand over the wound. **“What are you--”** Then they felt it, their blood shifting, moving around, pushing something out, the bullet popped out of their leg as their blood swirled around, slowly pooling back into their leg in wisps. Frisk felt their heart pumping, it radiated through their body, pulsing and alive. It was hard to think, hard to do anything but focus on the blood flowing through their veins. They couldn’t feel the bruises, their broken nose, their split lip where Chara had bit down, none of it.

 **“Holy sh*t.”** Chara and Flowey said. Frisk and Chara stared at the figures hands as they manipulated their blood until all of it had returned to them, the wound was still there though, the flesh raw, red and torn, but no blood flowed out. The stranger reached into their pocket and pulled a roll of bandages and wrapped their leg tightly. They opened their mouth but Flowey ws faster.

“Who the f*ck are you?! What kind of magi---” The stranger turned to him sharply and Flowey flinched and ducked behind Frisk’s ear. They placed a finger over where their mouth would be. Then tapped a finger to both Frisk’s head and Flowey face. Frisk suddenly felt really...tired...their vision darkened.

They slumped against the crate.

\- - - -

You had chased the leaf to an abandoned building on the far side of the city, where several human guards patrolled the walls, it was late into the night, but not quite morning, and the clouds could give you cover if you needed it. You sat at the corner of another roof of a different building as you watched the humans make their rounds, but you could still see them all, hyper-focused on the humans’ souls, so many corrupted souls. You could smell all of the blood, old wood, dust, and metal, all of their souls were corrupt. It didn’t matter the color, all were slowly turning black.

It was too quiet here, and you wouldn’t waste time. You leapt up high into the sky, clawing your fingers into your palms and shot marbled sized blood drops like bullets at each of the guards. You hit them all straight through their hearts and souls, as you intended. You adjusted yourself to land on the ledge of part of the roof, close to one of the humans. There was the distinct sound of shattering souls, and faint crackles of static, as you landed soundlessly on the rusted roof, and then all was once again quiet.

You eyed the blood pouring out from the wound in the man’s chest hungrily, taking note of the dark clothes, monster mask, and weaponry. Still the red maple leaf fluttered around in the wind, circling you again as you snatch it from the air. The child was here...your hunger would have to wait. You had a job to do, a contract to fulfill, a promise to keep. The seal on your chest glowed faintly, suddenly you were nearly burning with a drive to get to the child. You were theirs and they were yours. You could tear this place apart and burn it to ashes--no you WOULD tear the place and the human apart THEN burn it to ashes.

You searched for their souls--there!--Two red souls on the far side of the building. A group of humans were headed that way, particularly one nearly all black soul. It exuded malice and hatred and you clenched your hands as you jumped down quietly behind a large shipping container, peeking around a corner, taking out your blade. Something pops up by your foot, and you’re instantly crouched and ready to stab, but it’s...the Flower.

“What the--” You put a finger over his mouth and then put one over where yours would be, tucking the knife in and away from the Flower. You heard yelling, “_______! You can’t! Stop! If you kill them we won’t get--” someone chased after another. “SCREW OFF (name)! That little SH*T did THIS to ME. I’m going to r e t u r n the favor.” A man said, the dark soul. “_______! Wait!” the other said. 

The flower smacked away your finger and glared at you, thorny green vines popping from the earth underneath him as he shot one out towards you, but you didn’t move. The vine flew past the side of your head and into the chest of a man passing by behind you. He was dragged behind the container with you and the Flower, who retracted the vine with a wet “shlick”. He looked smug until you flicked out your knife with enough speed and force for it to be lodged in the chest of some woman.

“I ain’t thanking you.” the Flower muttered. “I don’t know who you are, but--CHARA!” The Flower seemed to sense the flare of the other soul and he disappeared underground again. You froze in your crouched position as the smell filled your nose--More voices and commotion--Then the smell of fresh blood, their blood, the child’s blood. **N O M E R C Y.** You felt the blood in your veins boil and the searing pain of your restraints and the seal, as all of them activated at once. 

Glowing chains whipped around you, smashing into the container and knocking into a few of the humans, others still were whipped into walls, you raised your hands and took hold of each and every human within your sight, stilling the blood in all of their veins, forcing them to the floor with enough force some bit their tongues and blood poured out their mouths. You pulled at the blood in their veins, watching the humans’ faces contort in agony and terror, until they burst, bones snapping, organs popping, skin tearing. It was quick, but painful.

You felt several bullets pierce your arms, your legs your torso, your neck, pinging off of the glowing restraints, you kept walking. The child was your priority, but more humans were at the windows, on the levels shooting at you. You stagger as they riddle you with holes, screaming, but all you hear are the ringing of the chains and the flow of blood. You wave you hands, manipulating the blood of their fallen comrades into bloody spears, which you threw outwards in every direction, tagging each and every soul as a target as you went. 

The excess blood pooled at your feet, coiling up like snakes and dropped hovered in mid-air around you--you saw a flash of a burning battlefield, where bodies lay strewn across the wasteland, but quickly snapped back to reality as you neared the part of the building they kept the child. You turned them against each other, made them shoot each other, kept their fingers on the triggers of the guns, until no bullets were left, paying no mind to the fading thorned vines strewn across the floor. Your spears pierced through bodies, branching out into each other like thorns, easily slicing through walls and flesh and bone, draining them all dry.

Then it was quiet. The seal receded and you look down at your hands, to find the red marks of the seal fading away. The chains remained, and you felt the drain of using so much magic, slumping to your knees in the large pool of blood, which was seeping into you from your bullet hole-ridden body. It helped with the drain, and with this much blood you wouldn’t be hungry for a while. Your body sucked it all in greedily. After that, your skin stitched itself together, and you spat out any stray bullets that had remained lodged inside you.

Only two souls remained, hidden away behind crates. You jumped atop the crate, casting a shadow and placed the leaf upon their face once more, ignoring the Flower as you looked over the wound in their leg. You got to work, getting their blood back into their body, but you weren’t a healer, you just eased and regulated the flow and used the spare bandages you tucked away in your pocket to wrap their wound.

They cast glances at you, one red eye open, both souls pulsing in tandem. The Flower was cautious of you, but a look sent them hiding behind the child’s ear. You tap each of their foreheads, the human slumps, asleep, but the Flower goes still. You take your finger back, only to pierce it with a nail and draw a rune on one of the Flower’s less damaged petals. Then he too falls asleep.

You take the child’s hand and stab into your palm with your fingers, using the blood to draw the a simple heptagram into their skin with your blood, which glowed bright red before disappearing. With that finished you, get up and take your knife and slice into your palm, forming a new spell circle with it. You then take the child and the Flower into your uninjured arm, the cut already closing.

 _[Ashes to ashes, dust to dust_  
_Rotting wood, and metal rust_  
_Flames burn, tall and bright_  
_Leave nothing on this Hallowed night_  
_For here in this place burn stone, burn tree_  
_As I will so mote it be]_

And around the spell circle, blood red and white flames erupted, melting metal, scorching wood, but there was no heat to be felt. You jumped high into the air and watched as the spell circle was consumed with flames, you landed on another building’s roof. You watched it burn, the child tucked in your arms. The fire was swift and it consumed the whole building and all the bodies within. 

You left it to burn, knowing you’d invoked the spell only to burn that building, and once it was reduced to nothing it would snuff itself out. You looked down at the sleeping child in your arms and then back to the city. You readjusted your hold on them before preparing to jump onto the next roof. [It is time I met my fate.] 

And you took the leap, your chains rattling on the wind.

\- - - -

Fuku, looked over the bar, as she was healing MK, still unconscious in a booth, by himself. Her dad, King Asgore and Queen Toriel were still in the back and after some healing from her Dr. Gaster went to assist them, since Dr. Alphys was still in no condition to be helping out. Undyne mutter reassurances to her, rubbing her back, but Alphys remained curled up.

MK sighed a bit and she looked back at him and smiled a little. He’d be ok. She pulled away from him and took the mask that was laid across his chest. Frisk’s mask. It was a bit creepy, and a bit messed up, but she straightened it out as best she could. Sans and Papyrus lumbered over.

“how’s mk?” sans asked. “He’ll be fine.” she responded softly. “Do you need anymore healing Sans?” she offered. “nah, pops and paps topped me up. I’m fine.” She knew he was lying. “Brother Please Do Not Push Yourself.” Papyrus said, fully scowling down at his brother. To their side, MK stirred some more before sitting up slowly, blinking away the fuzziness from his eyes.

“Yyoooo.... What happened?....” he groaned. “MK? How are you feeling?” Fuku knelt by his side. “I’m ok, but..FRISK! Where’s Frisk?!” they said, suddenly wide awake, looking frantically around the room. Fuku hesitated, “Frisk...is still missing, but the human authorities are looking for them.” she tried to reassure him. 

MK looked to be on the verge of tears as his big eyes got watery and swam with tears. “No, no! It’s all my fault! They took them away!!” He started crying openly. “There There MK.” Papyrus scooped the distraught little monster and cradled his to his shoulder, patting his back. None of them knew what else to say though.

And then she heard it, it was faint and felt far away, but it was there. An echoing metallic clinking, but it was more like rattling, like chains. Fuku’s fire stood straight as she made for the door, the sound getting closer, getting louder. She did not notice Sans and Papyrus stiffen, as she passed them and out the door of the bar. The ringing in her nonexistent ears blocking out all other sound.

She looked up into the dark cloudy sky and then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She saw a figure dropping towards her, making her stagger back and fall over on her back. She watched as the figure landed, dodging her completely, by shifting their legs on either side of her, and dropped a hand by her head into a spread eagle crouch above her. 

She came face to face with an old blank mask with bleeding eyeholes. They were too close but she strangely wasn’t afraid, even as the eyes seemed to take her very soul. They cocked their head and Fuku suddenly felt dizzy, she slumped against the ground, just as the door to the bar slammed open.

She caught one word before the darkness took her.

“Y O U.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp that was a bit of a dosey....hmmm maybe there will be more blood and guts next time?...not like you can go into detail when you're in a blood rage....:P
> 
> LEAVE ME SOMETHING. Please?
> 
> >XD


	14. A Bloody Bad Time Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Judgement Hall *dun Dun DUNNNN* (trombone style)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR~~ 2017!!
> 
> Here ya go~
> 
> Thank you for your patience and support guys! ~350 kudos ~70 bookmarks ~6500 hits

As you carried the child and the Flower away from the burning site you released the magic you used to keep them asleep. They stirred slowly, the child said nothing but you felt their stares at you as you moved. The Flower, also did not say a word, but you knew the three of them were talking. You leapt over roofs, ran across edges, and the wind picked up and whipped at you and the chains, rattling them, echoing their sounds.

You came upon the bar and stood on the edge of the roof, feeling the souls inside the bar...

You had planned on landing in front of the door, when you leapt from the opposite building, but then the young green fire elemental stepped out once you were halfway through the air, and you had to make a quick decision, so as to hurt her as little as possible. 

You ended up landing above her. She was unconscious but she was alive, you stepped back from her, slowly. You felt the familiar flares of magic, as you looked up to see them. He flared a bright orange and yellow, tinged with red along the edges, flaring and crackling. His eyes were searing white suns and his mouth a jagged line with sharp points for his fangs. His sleeves were rolled up and his soul flared brightly in his chest. He was dark and just as menacing, a contrasting shadow. His eyes were abysmal voids and shadow rolled off his bones and dark coat like he wore the night sky itself. 

He stalked forwards and you treated away from the girl, never keeping your gaze away from either of them. “dad.” a rough deep voice called and in a short burst of blue light, Sans stood in front of his father, slightly stumbling. His left blue eye flaring as he looked at you. “what the--” “SANS!” his brother called, pushing past his father to grab his brother. “WHAT DID I TELL YO--” He began, his orange right eye flaring as he saw you.

The child stirred at them and reached out with a hand, the Flower turning to them. “Papyrus.” he called. “Flowey? Tiny Human?” he answered, looking down at them the bone of his brow contorting in confusion. “what the hell did you do to them?” Sans asked darkly. While this went on he made his way to Fuku, kneeling by her side, but keeping his open side to you, looking at you as he tried to wake her.

The child grips the front of your vest and starts speaking in hands at them. You don’t watch what they say, only watch as the others do and see past the five of them and into the bar where the King, and the blue fish monster “Undyne” are urging other monsters out of the bar, while “Alphys”, the yellow dinosaur monster, holds back the yellow lizard monster, some device at her ear which she speaks into.

You feel a harsh pull on your chest, but you refuse. “Human...” Papyrus starts talking, his eye blinking out. You twitch at the name, gripped the child a little too tight, and they groan in protest. The Flower glares at you, but eyes the others warily. you needed to focus you had more concerns at the moment. “Why?” he asks, taking a step forward. “P4PYRU5!” (Translation: “PAPYRUS!”) Sans grabs onto his wrist. They look at each other and Sans shakes his head, sweating glowing blue magic. _**“B0Y5, Pl3453...90 B4cK 1n51d3 4nD L37 9r1lLbY 4nD 1 H4ndL3 7h15.”**_ he says. (Translation: “Boys, Please...Go back inside and let Grillby and I handle this.”) The Flower said nothing only curled around the child, never looking back at you.

Nobody moved, but you could see the confusion in their eyes as the child continued to slowly sign to them. Then suddenly the door bursts open and the small lizard monster from earlier in the night came running out screaming, only to fall heavily on his face. He scrambled up though and barreled right towards you, knocking into your legs, but only succeeding in knocking themselves onto their back. They just get back up again.

The little yellow monster was standing away in a defensive little crouch in front of you and then they ran up to kick you in the shin, repeatedly. “Put.” *kick* “Frisk.” *kick* “Down.” *kick* You looked down at the monster, as something blue takes him and pulls him away. “Yo what--!”

“hey, mk why don’tcha lemme handle this?” You look up to Sans Standing just behind the floating monster child. A strained smile still stretched wide over his skull, but his left eye burns blue and yellow alternately as he extends a black-fingerless gloved hand towards you. A dragon-dog skull appears behind him and it’s mouth fills with bright blue magic.

“hand the kid over buddy or you’re going to have a really b a d t i m e.”

You step forward, watching as he takes his daughter away and into the--now empty--bar. You feel the child grip onto you tighter, so you stop and look down at them. “Frisk?” the Flower says. They shake their head slowly. You feel a pull on your soul again, harsher this time. On the edge of your hearing there’s a voice--no...two voices.

 _“Chara I can’t let go.”_  
**“I know you don’t want them hurt, but it’d be better if we went with the trash bag.”**  
_“They’ll hurt them.”_  
**“They’ll be fine. They’ve made it this far.”**

“Please....” You see the child look up at you, continually shaking their head at you. “Frisk?” you hear Sans question, the floating skull behind him disappearing. You readjust the child in your hold, letting out a long breath and then make your way to the bar entrance. You pass him, he watches you closely, his eyes blazing.

A row of blue bones block your way to the bar door, and the skeletons, including the monster child now being carried by Papyrus, have moved to block the door as well. There is no time for this. You try speaking, [Let me pass. The child is injured. They require a healer.] _**“7h47 M4y b3 50 bu7 y0u 4r3 n07 w3lc0m3 h3r3. R3l3453 7h3m.”**_ (Translation: That may be so but you are not welcome here. Release them) “dad” “Father?” the brothers look alarmed.

“ENOUGH.” a voice booms from behind them, drowning out the sound of the door opening. The King steps out, his glowing red trident in hand. “Gaster, Sans, Papyrus, stand down.” he orders. His blue eyes hard as they stare you down. “Your Maje--” Papyrus starts. “All of you, inside the bar. NOW.” he orders, voice harsher, his hands sparking with flames. The skeleton brothers go in, casting glances at you as their father follows them.

“Asgore...” the Flower says. “Flowey, it is good to see you and Frisk are back. Why is this person with you?” he demands. “I don’t know.” the Flower meekly answers, cowering a little. “Very well. You.” he addresses you. “I am Asgore, King of All Monsters. You hold my children in your grasp. What is your intention?” he grips his trident hard. The child lifts their head to the King. “Your mother is worried, Frisk. She’s nearly Fallen with worry.” the King’s voice holds almost an infinite amount of sadness and care as they gaze down at them, his voice softer.

[The child requires a healer.] You repeat. The King’s eyes flash. “I have not heard that tongue since before the war, before the barrier. So it is true. You are them after all. When i saw you I could not believe my eyes. Tell me why i should not strike you down where you stand?” his voice gets more rough and full of hate as he readies his trident. [You may, but that will not help your child. If your wish is to execute me, so be it. This child comes first.] You’re not going to back down. Not going to run. “Asgore?...” a voice calls. It’s soft and kind, desperate. You turn to the Queen, leaning heavily onto Undyne. “My child...?” Her purple eyes fill with tears as she tries to stumble forward with the support of Undyne.

“Mo--Toriel!” the Flower calls. The Queen falls before you, unconcerned with your presence, stroking and cooing at her child. “Captain Undyne...” the King says. “Forgive me, my king. She was insistent.” the Captain says. You slowly tug the child’s hands off of you, careful of the still- glowing manacles and chains. You transfer them to the Queen as gently as possible, she holds them close as they’re escorted away by the Captain. The glow of their souls pulsing in recognition with a bond only a mother and child could have.

You don’t look away as they’re escorted back inside. You feel the presence of both of them and one other now, also familiar. “By the stars...” his voice says and you turn around to face the old turtle monster, the old General. “Gaster...Grillby...Asgore...This isn’t...” “It is.” Asgore says. “How is this possible?” the old General demands. _ **“W3 d0 n07 kn0w.” (Translation: We do not know.)**_ **he** says. “But we will find out.” _he_ finishes.

Suddenly you’re no longer in front of the bar, but in a golden hallway, stained-glass windows line the walls and large stone pillars hold the ceiling high above you. 

\- - - -

Who the hell was this?

They were about an inch or so shorter than Sans, they wore a mask, off-white and cracked and chipped along the edges, two empty holes with long thick strands of red running down them, a ragged faded-hood, with a lot of holes and rips, bloody bandages showed underneath them. Their arms were the same, bandaged and stained red in a lot of places, their torn cargo pants showed more blood stains and ended with old shoes wrapped with old duct tape and gauze. 

There were heavy metal manacles around their wrists and neck, glowing chains attached to each of them and they seemed whole if not for the the way the chains seemed to disappear and fade to nothing as they reached the ground. Sans had a bad feeling about them and he tensed up at the sight.

They looked like they’d gotten into a fight, but Sans couldn’t feel a presence from them at all, like he could blink and they’d disappear. He couldn’t see their soul. Frisk is curled up against their chest, scratched and bruised, they’re pale and breathing deeply and shakily. The figure holds them out to him. Frisk signed with one hand to all of them. _Mercy. Friend. Rescued._

Sans is conflicted. The kid has a good soul, a determined soul. He doesn’t move as they pass him and walk towards the bar’s front door. He and Papyrus share a look before both of them cut them off, Papyrus scooping up MK, who was still looking at him in awe. Gaster beat them to it though with a wall of bones. They says something, but only Gaster seems to know what they’re saying. “ENOUGH.” he hears from behind him. Asgore tone is commanding as he steps out, past all of them to confront the stranger. He leaves no room for argument as he goes back inside.

The bar is empty now. Undyne has a glowing spear out, watching what’s going on outside carefully. Papyrus hands MK to Alphys, who tries to carry him to the back. “But Alphys! Frisk! I gotta--we gotta help Frisk.” “Tell her Undyne!” he begs, twisting to look at her. “It’s best you let us handle it kid. Go to the back with Alphys and watch over the Queen with Grillby. Can you do that squirt?” she says, bending down to him. “This is my job for you ok?” she smiles, sharp and wide. 

MK’s eyes sparkle. “You got it Captain!” his tail wags but then he bows his head. “You’ll save Frisk right?” his voice is void of it’s usual excitement. Sans steps in. “don’t worry mk. We got everything well in hand.” He detaches his hand for good measure, which earns him laughter from MK but quiet scoffs and grumbles from the others. Heh worth it.

Alphys looks at all of them. “B-be C-careful g-guys.” she says as she goes to the back. “undyne how is tori and fuku?” he Sans, all joking gone. “Toriel is still weak, but she’s awake. She knows Frisk is back too. Fuku is still out. Grillby’s tending to her now, he says she’ll be fine, she just passed out.” she says. “Anything from them?” she says staring back out, Gaster had remained by one of the front windows. Papyrus pipes in, “No Captain. Nothing.” 

“Dad. what are you not telling us?” Sans asks. “You know something about this guy Doctor Gaster?” Undyne questions. “Father?” His head jerks in their direction the slightest bit, but he’s still staring intently at the stranger outside. _ **“17’5 700 l0n9 4 570rY. 4nD w3 d0 n07 h4v3 7h3 71m3...pL3453 3xcu53 m3 1 mu57 90.”**_ (Translation: It’s too long a story. And we do not have the time...Please excuse me i must go.”) He disappears in a flash of darkness.

“What the hell.” Undyne complains, but she can’t lash out like Sans knows she wants to. She has to do her job. They all turn towards the back door when open comes Grillby, supporting a stumbling Toriel. “General, I believe Captain Undyne can help me from here on. GO back and tend to your child.” she says, as flecks of dust fall off her. “Your Majesty!!” Papyrus says alarmed. Undyne rushes to her side to support her other side from Grillby. “I got her Grillby. Go back and take care of Fuku.” Undyne says. Grillby nods once, his fire still a wild array of reds, oranges and yellows, flickering wildly, but he let’s go of Toriel carefully before disappearing into the back again.

“Captain, take me to my children.” Toriel commands. “tori...” Sans starts, but she fixes him with a wild look, which instantly shuts him up. “As you wish, my queen.” Undyne replies. And they start to the door. Papyrus moves to help, but Sans hangs back and looks between the front windows where outside the stranger, still holding Frisk and the weed, are talking? To Asgore, back to the back room where he knows Grillby, Fuku, Alphys and MK are, and then back to his brother. All of this was a mess. His father had left and Sans has so many questions, he can’t think of any jokes to help lighten the heavy tense atmosphere hanging over the bar.

“Papyrus, Sans, stay inside.” Undyne calls over her shoulder as she and Toriel exit the bar. “Yes Undyne.” Papyrs says, almost sounding defeated. Sans goes up to him and rests a hands on his brother’s arm. “It’ll be ok pap.” Papyrus shakes off his previous sadness and adds with a somewhat forced smile. “You’re Right Brother. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE! NYEH HEH!” “yup. you’re so cool bro.” Papyrus continues to laugh as Sans watches the exchange out the window.

Frisk and the weed have been handed off to Toriel and she seems much better than before. Sans feels a pulse of their familial bond resonate through the air and it somewhat lifts the heaviness that had settled, but then suddenly Gaster and Grillby and Gerson? Are standing outside and Alphys is exiting the back, as all of them disappear and Toriel, Undyne, Frisk and the weed enter back into the bar.

“F-frisk!” Alphys says rushing over to check on them, they’re bandaged up and look beat up. They’re being really fussy though, squirming and using their hands, saying “Help. Not their fault. Mercy. Please. Sorry.” Toriel keeps a firm grip on them, already glowing a soft green, which has their breathing steadying, but Sans checks their soul and they’re already down some HP, slowly climbing with Toriel’s healing as she sits down in a chair Undyne sets for her. Frisk waves down to Papyrus. “Tiny Human?” Papyrus hovers close by. “Please help them.” “Help Who?” “Them!” “I Don’t---” Frisk looks to Sans with tears in their eyes. “Judgement Hall. Save them. Don’t hurt them. Please.” 

“Judgement Hall? Is that where the others went to?” Undyne asks. Frisk nods, before turning back to Sans. “P-please Sans...”they beg, their soul shining with determination. He breaths a sigh. “gotcha kid. you owe me one though. take care of em paps, ‘dyne, and alph might wanna check on mk and fuku.” he says, closing his right socket and letting his left one light with his magic. Papyrus moves up to him to say something but shakes it off. “Be Careful Brother.” he says. “No bones about it pap.”

He falls through the void, with a smile on his skull as he hears the echo of Papyris’s indignant screams. A short trip and he ends up in the golden hallway. In the same spot he always was before when he confronted the kid here. However, there was his friends: his dad, Grillby, Asgore, Gerson, where the kid would’ve been and the stranger right in front of him where he would have been. Where he was now.

There are bones sticking out every which-way, around them in a makeshift cage, some blue, some orange some white, ringing in flames and occasionally he saw electricity jumping along the bones. The stranger slowly turns their head to him, standing in the middle of the makeshift-cage. Sans stares back into the voids of the eyeholes of their mask. Their chains were slowly fading and shortening, link by link.They turn to him fully, walking towards the side of their cage closest to him, which causes their chains to rattle. Sans had to cringe at the echoing noises through the Hall. 

He feels something prickling at his bones, like static, like pins, he feels a shudder run through him. It feels to what humans describe as “goosebumps” he thinks, but somehow slightly more painful than expected. He pushes the feeling down so he can talk. “hey, that’s not really polite to leave us all hanging like that, pops, grillbz, asgore, gerson.” Sans says. He sees the disapproval in his dad’s sockets, Grillby’s and Asgore’s eyes, but he sees deep concern in Gerson’s. “and don’t say anything like it’s not my business, pops. i’m the Judge ‘member?” he directs with a half-hearted( if he had one) wink and then slowly walks towards the makeshift cage, ignoring the others’ protests.

“you know the kid wants them, unharmed. they’re determined.” he quips, jerking a thumb at the stranger, which catches all of their attention as they whipped their gazes to him sharply, all of their faces carrying varying degrees of alarm. “...Frisk doesn’t know who they are...” Asgore says darkly. “enlighten me then, asgore. who ARE they?” Sans pointedly glares at him, but Asgore looks away.

Sans sees the stranger grip their bandaged hands into tight fists before they speak again, but Sans can’t understand a word. Gerson speaks the same language back, replying to whatever it was they said. “how you understand what they’re saying?” sans asks them, looking from face to face. “It’s an old human tongue, used by humans before the war. Though not many humans know it now.” Gerson says, smiling a bit at him.

Holy stars they were THAT old? Were they even human? Why was Frisk so adamant about saving them? He looked over their bond hands and the bones, flames and electricity. Whatever reason for the restraints, whoever made them probably had a valid reason for them. However, Sans can’t help but feel like he’s met them somewhere before. In the resets? No. He’d probably know about them. Before the resets? Sans can’t remember much before them, so it was possible. “guess you weren’t a new pal, human.” Sans mutters, looking them up and down

He seen them stiffen and they’re suddenly a sharp series of snapping noises as all of the bones keeping them caged are shattered and turned to dust at once. The echoing rattle of their chains forcing him to cover the side of his skull from the sound. His bones feel shaken to his marrow and he’s unsteady on his feet, he feels himself keel over and hit the ground. The sound echoes through his skull as he blacks out.

\- - - - - 

Bones erupt from the ground around you, some glowing blue and others orange and some are simply white, but rings of fire circle your makeshift cage and electricity shoots into the bones and crackles along them. You looked to the four monsters standing a ways away from you, their weapons and magic fully visible and you could feel it roll off them in waves. 

“Never in all my years, would I think I may have to see you again.” The old General says. “So this is them, the one you all told me about all those centuries ago. I did not expect them to be...a child.” The King comments. “They aren’t a child...” _he_ says, his mouth cracking open and the shapes of his eyes appearing behind his glasses, burning into you. He says nothing, but his sockets bore into you as well, the purple and red flames of his eyes bursting to life as he summons a dragon skull.

But he stops, the skull disappearing and the magic flickering out when his son appears behind your cage. You feel him too, but you slowly turn to him as he locks his eyelights onto you. You look back to him, but you also look at the others’ reactions at the corners of your vision. They don’t look pleased, particularly him. You slowly approach the side of the cage closest to Sans. Your restraints slowly fading but their rattling echoes through the hall, and you see Sans stiffen and a repressed shudder go through his body.

He speaks to them, only briefly looking away from you, “hey, that’s not really polite to leave us all hanging like that, pops, grillbz, asgore, gerson.” he says, then continues, “and don’t say anything like it’s not my business, pops. i’m the Judge ‘member?” “Judge”? He looks back to you and walks closer, despite the protests of the others behind you. There’s a rough tugging at your chest and you see Sans’s left pupil go briefly blue before changing back to white.

He directs his attention back to the others behind you, his face unreadable despite the seemingly ever-present grin on his skull. You take the chance to observe him more closely. He has dense thick bones, a rounded skull, he was tall, but not that much taller than you; nothing like his brother or his...father. And where Papyrus had much more energy Sans didn’t seem to have any, but you knew better. He had a lot of magic, you could feel it, a lot of hidden depth. 

“you know the kid wants them, unharmed. they’re determined.” He points with a thumb at you, looking back towards the others. You stiffen at his words and balled your fists, when he turned back to you you spoke, [The child has summoned me?] He didn’t understand you and even your disused voice was raw. [Why would that child wish to see one such as you?] You heard the old General say. You and Sans turned to him. “you can understand what they’re saying?” he asked. You, too, were surprised, but then this was to be expected the old General WAS quite old.

“It’s an old human tongue, used by humans before the war. Though not many humans know it now.” The old General says, there’s a bit of humor in his voice, concealing the seriousness of the situation. You turn back to Sans who seems to be thinking, the bone between his sockets is pinched and his grin is slipping into a somewhat frown. Of course he wouldn’t understand. Of course he wouldn’t know. He most likely never told him. You side glanced the two of them, they seemed to sense your gaze and stared back at you.

“guess you weren’t a new pal, human.” he says looking you over and you...snap. The word human echoing in your head. Human. Human. Human. You snap bring up your arms and smash through the bones with your manacles and chains, disintegrating them into dust. The motion rattles your chains and the sound echoes and bounces off the walls of the hall. You see Sans cover where his ears would be as he staggers and then falls to the floor unconscious.

The circles of fire are broken and snuff out and the rest of the bones disintegrate into dust around you. There’s a flash of purple then feeling of his magic and then the feeling of several sharp bones piercing through your body. Sans is gone and in his place is him. The scars on his face seem deeper, his right socket seemed to droop and his dark robes seemed to have coalesced into some kind of dark slime, his hands disembodied. 

You look down at yourself. Your blood pools onto the golden tiles from where all of the bones have pierced through you: your feet, your legs, your chest, your arms. They’ve gone through you at such an angle that you’re speared upright. You cough up blood and slump, your vision fading, but you’re not afraid, it hurts but at the same time it doesn’t, not really, but you feel blood pool into your eyes and fall down your mask anyway.

[For...give...me...] is the last thing you say before your world goes dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well...that happened.
> 
> please look forward to next time and leave me a comment!
> 
> Stay Determined.


	15. When the past comes back to haunt you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> welp...WHAT now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GOTS MORE FANART!!!
> 
> By CruxL: http://prnt.sc/dryviq (its a bit different than what actually happened but it's still amazing!)
> 
> Thank you guys for your support! ~370 kudos, 75 bookmarks and +6700 hits
> 
> Enjoy!

The hall was eerily silent, but the mood and feel of magic in the air was thick and heavy. Gaster looked over the slumped form in front of him, impaled by his bones. He raised a hand and tried to tug at their soul, if _it_ even had one, and was met with nothing. No resistence, no feeling of anything there, nothing. Simply nothing at all, like As-Flowey. A soulless husk. An abomination. An undead soldier, bent on destruction, blood, and dust...

**“1’m 50rRY...”** [For...give...me..] Old words. Old phrases. Old memories of someone long gone...he feels tears prick his sockets, but shakes his head to clear them away. _They_ were dead. **It** killed them. **It** almost hurt his son, and he’d be damned--more so than he was already--before he let **it** take away something precious to him EVER again. Amongst his anger, there were questions. His rational mind still trying to find answer. How was it possible that **it** could’ve lasted so long aboveground? Why was **it** here? What did all of this have to do with Frisk?

He watched the blood pool onto the floor, and nearly stepped back before it could reach him, but it had stopped spreading towards him and instead, spread slowly around him instead, before stopping altogether and then the blood’s flow is _reversing_ , flowing back into the body it’s left in streams faster and faster until there’s no more blood to be had outside the body. **It** doesn’t move. “...You can’t kill **It**.” Grillby said. “They can’t be killed.” Gerson said. “How can something like that exist?” Asgore hisses. “Through old dark magic. Powerful and forbidden.” Gerson says with a bite to his voice.

As if responding to their statements the fingers of the body twitch and the head lifts. Gaster nearly screams, stepping back, the bones start corroding--turning black and cracking--before crumbling to dust. The body falls to the floor, but the holes the bones made in **its** flesh slowly closing. Gaster is appalled, his sockets void. Then Asgore’s trident came flying towards **its** head, but is stopped by thick bloody tendrils from **its** body, that had emerged from the still open wounds in **its** back, arms, and legs, pooling the blood from the body back into the body as if _its_ very blood were sentient. The tendrils wrapped around the weapon’s shaft and between the prongs of the head. The trident fades away and the tendrils retreat back into **its** body, the wounds fully closing. The body doesn’t move again.

Gaster slumps onto the floor, his hands shaking, and his form unstable from all the magic he’s used, most of him has dissolved into void-like slime, save his skull and hands, much like his form in the void. There’s a hollow feeling in his chest, and he can’t hear anything, can’t feel anything, his body won’t move like he wants it to either. He can’t speak and he doesn’t really understand he’s crying under his vision blurs red and purple. They drip freely from his skull until he feels something warm brush them away.

He slowly turns to face Grillby, his flames distressed and shifting colors quickly and erratically. He’s picked up, but he can’t feel much else other than Grillby’s warmth, as he cradles him next to Sans, who’s supported by Gerson. He’s barely awake now, but Gaster finds it in himself to reach out and touch his son’s skull, his disembodied hands cradling his eldest son’s face. *’m fine pops He hears. Gaster smiles, hearing his son’s voice. He’s slowly coming back to himself. He turns to Grillby, who’s burning green mostly now, trying to heal him.

He places a hand over Grillby’s. _**“1’m 4lr19h7...y0u c4n 570p.”**_ (Translation: I’m alright...You can stop.) Grillby intertwines their fingers and brings their joined hands in a kiss. “4h4h4...” he laughs. “you ok pops?” Sans tired voice asks. He turns to Sans. _**“1 5h0ulD b3 45k1n9 y0u 7h47 54n5.4r3 y0u 4lr19h7?”**_ (Translation: I should be asking you that Sans.are you alright?) Sans nods, sitting up. He looks around at all of them. “i got a lot of questions pops. but what now?”

Sans had a point. **It** still lay motionless on the ground. He was drained of most of his magic. Grillby was slowly draining himself. Gerson and Asgore were on edge, but he turned to them for what they should do. Gerson and Asgore looked between all of them. “We cannot leave that here, unless at least two of us stayed behind. But it also seems **that** cannot be contained easily either.” Asgore says, grimly.

They nod. Sans looks back at **it**. His expression unreadable. “Might I may make a suggestion, my King?” Gerson says. “Certainly, old friend.” Asgore responds. “We should bring the Wraith back with us, under all of our supervision of course, I’m certain our Scientists can come up with a way to contain them, but I believe our only option is to have them under supervision and if we’re able to keep them imprisoned in some way.” Asgore, Gaster, and Grillby all frown at this.

“gerson’s got a point. we can’t keep them here in the hall forever and even if we kept ‘em here underground the lab doesn’t have the equipment anymore to hold anything like them. don’t got the cells for it.” he chuckles weakly at the joke. No one responds. Gaster frowns further but he knows Sans is right. Most of the equipment in the labs were either re-appropriated into his lab and Alphys’s or destroyed altogether.

A ringing phone gets all of their attention. Gaster looks to the familiar tune playing from San’s jacket pocket. “welp this is going to go well.” he mutters and then answers the phone. “Hey bro.” “DON’T YOU ‘HEY BRO’ ME SANS! WHATS GOING ON? YOU’VE BEEN GONE FOR HOURS!! YOU MISSED BREAKFAST!!” His youngest yells from the other end of the line, causing Sans to hold the phone away from his skull a good foot away. He chuckles dryly. “sorry bro we’ll be home soon, ok? well if we don’t break-fast.” Gaster could feel Papyrus cringing because that one was particularly bad, but more screeching came from the phone and then--

“PAPYRUS KEEP IT DOWN! FRISK IS STILL SLEEPING AND TORIEL’S STILL RECOVERING!!” There was a lot of shuffling and crashing coming from the phone and then a voice cuts in and says, “Hello? Sans?” the queen’s voice comes through. “Toriel.” Asgore says, relieved. Sans puts his skull back to the phone, “yea tori?” Sans answers. Sans’s smile is strained as he fiddles with his phone for a moment before turning it to all of them. “Gentleman.” Toriel greets from the screen of Sans’s phone.

_**“Y0uR M4j357y.”**_ (translation: Your Majesty) he says, bowing his head, Grillby mimicking his actions. “Are you alright Toriel?” Asgore questions. “I’m fine Asgore. I’m more worried about the situation over where you are. Where are they?” Sans turns the phone to its unconscious form on the ground. “I see. Are they...?” she says. “No.” Gerson answers, “As I have explained to you, Your Majesty they cannot be killed. Though it seems like they’re recovering slowly.” 

“I believe you were supposed to not harm them, at the request of Frisk, and show Mercy. Sans?” Her voice sent shivers down Gaster’s spine. He hoped he’d never have to be on the receiving end of the Queen’s wrath again, but apparently not so. Gaster could feel himself sinking further into his goop-like form, but Grillby held him in place. He looked over to the elemental and Grillby looked back. There was equal fear and apprehension as well as grim determination in his eyes. 

\- - - -

Grillby could only imagine Gaster’s position, seeing something like _that_ happen for the first time, but even if he’s seen it before. It’s just as horrifying as it was the first time he saw it on the battlefield. Sans was slowly stirring in his hold, but he couldn’t leave him there on the floor. Gerson and Asgore stood ready on either side of him, but it didn’t move or spoke again.

Once the danger seemed over, Gerson knelt by his side and took Sans from him. “Go see him.” He nods his head towards Gaster and Grillby nods once. He stands up and rushes over to Gaster, helping him up as best he can in his incorporeal state. He didn’t know Gaster could even become so...gooey. He hefts Gaster up and carries him back to Sans, gently putting him down next to his son. He’d started healing Gaster slowly, too much magic could send him more into shock.

And now they were at an impasse. What would they do now? What could they do? **That** wasn’t easily killed nor contained, though **that** seemed “dead”. Gaster was almost literally falling apart in his hold, and he remained quiet as they discussed what they could possibly do with it. He was more focused on Gaster and worrying about Fuku. Was she alright? Would any of them be alright after whatever happened next? And then Sans receives a call from Papyrus.

He wasn’t aware they had spent so much time down in Judgement Hall, or that Papyrus, her Majesty, Frisk, and seemingly Undyne had remained at his bar. Speaking of which, Sans had hurriedly switched back to normal “Call” mode on his phone and apparently whatever the Queen was saying was making him sweat bullets. “Sans? What’s wrong?” Asgore asks him. He shakily gets up and Gerson walks over to help him walk over to Asgore. “Easy there, Sans.” Sans held out the phone, his sockets void to Asgore, who takes the phone as Gerson supports Sans back over to him and Gaster.

“What did she say?” Gerson whispered to him. “she wants us to bring them back to the bar.” Sans jerks a thumb behind him at the body. “What?!” Grillby says, his flames rising and cracking sharply, turning a deep red. Gaster hissed at the sharp change in temperature so Grillby quickly reduced the heat, but was still quietly seething-- of all places HIS bar?!! Was the Queen insane?! He couldn't let his daughter be exposed to--- Despite his thought process Grillby paid attention to what Sans was saying. “tori is kinda heated over the fact that you took ‘em--” “Does she know who they are? What they are?” Gerson asks. He nods. “yeah, but she wants to meet ‘em anyway.”

Sans face turns more grim. “I don’t even know who they are. How does she? Or you guys for that matter know who that is?” Grillby’s flames flickered. He was so unaware. Grillby was almost envious of how Sans didn't know about **that** , but then again neither he nor Grillby talked about the war when they were raising him and Papyrus. But like his father he wanted to know, wanted to learn, they both didn't like being kept in the dark about anything. However, he was good a keeping secrets, a useful skill for a bartender. But deep down he knew he wanted to know as well. He too wanted answers to questions he’s been mulling over for years; wanted to know WHY. And since they had very little options, they may as well get answers, since **that** could speak.

Grillby was lost in thought he didn’t register Gaster leave his side until he looked back up to Sans and Gerson again. They were staring at Gaster and Asgore, respectively. His Majesty was speaking in hushed tones with Her Majesty by one of the stained glass windows. “Gaster?...” he questioned turning back to his friend. He had pulled himself together much more, only seeming to dissolve into that dark...slime from the lower half of his body.

Grillby stood up and walked over to Gaster’s side. _**“1 4m uN345y, 9r1lLbY...h0w 15 17 p0551bL3 IT 15 h3r3? wHy n0w 4f73r 4lL 7h15 71m3 d035 IT ch0053 70 r3v34l 1753lF?”**_ (Translation: ! am uneasy Grillby...How is it possible IT is here? Why now after all this time does IT choose to reveal itself?) Grillby doesn’t answer, eyeing the still unmoving form on the floor. No motion of breathing, moving, it’s still as a corpse. The chains around its wrists have stopped their progression of fading and remain short glowing white chains. The manacles are no different, glowing white and it hurt his eyes to stare at them.

“I do not know. However...” He says, and Gaster turns to him, his eyelights red-orange and purple. Grillby turns towards His Majesty. “I believe their majesties have already been discussing what we are to do with... **that**.” _**“5ur3lY 7h3Y r34l1z3 7h3 r15k5 0f-- n0 0f c0ur53 7h3y d0...”**_ (Translation: Surely they realize the risks of--no of course they do...) he says with obvious alarm, but then it turned into a begrudged resignation. Grillby understood, as much as he would not want to let his personal feelings cloud his judgement no matter how warranted!--He understood. They both did, much as they would not like to admit it.

They had to go about the situation carefully or there would be chaos and chaos...could lead to another war. Grillby would give anything to never have to go through another war. Painful flashes run through his brain quickly at the thought of the horror. Gaster gripped his hand in his skeletal one, his eyes dim. Grillby gripped his hand right back.

Eventually Asgore closed Sans’s phone and sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He turns around and Grillby has never seen a more tired look on the King’s face. “What are we doing, sire?” Gerson asks. He looks at each of them individually, a grim expression on his face, before he looks directly at Grillby. “Toriel, Frisk, Flowey, and Fuku have remained at the bar with Greater Dog, Lesser Dog, Doggo, Dogamy and Dogaressa guarding them. Alphys and Undyne have gone back to the mansion to prepare for our arrival.”

“You mean...?” Grillby prompts. Asgore nods. “By order of the Queen, we are to take the Blood Wraith to her. Our child also seems to have been asking for... them...whenever they have a moment of consciousness.” He looks around at the others and then back to Grillby again. “Should this not be acceptable, Toriel requests that we take...them...to the mansion instead.” The hall is quiet and the atmosphere thicker with tension and dread.

But despite his misgivings, orders were orders, and it had been a very long time since His Majesty had ever had to pull rank on him. Grillby grimly nodded. “My apologizes old friend, I will take full responsibility should anything happen to your bar or anyone for that matter.” He looked around at the others to object, they were all silent. However, Grillby could tell that Gaster was quietly stewing in his thoughts, and even Sans was brewing his own, looking over at the still motionless body on the floor.

This was not going to end well.

\- - - -

_You were in the darkness again, not even the light of your chains illuminated the blackness. But your broken soul was resonating through you, pulsing like your long lost heart. It was here you went upon each death. An endless dark void of nothingness. No light, no sound, no sights, nothing. You had never actually stayed so long in it before you think, floating in a vast endless dark space, or were you standing? You never were sure of how you were when you were in this void, but such things didn’t matter to you after all of the times you had come to this place._

_Every time you came to this void, there was never anything in here when you arrived, however, you felt something this time. Something deep within your broken soul, aching and crying for something. And no matter what you were going to go to it, whatever it was. The feeling pulled at you, urging you to go somewhere, and you followed, uncaring of where you were going because for the first time in many many years you felt alive.You seemed to move faster and faster and you struggled to keep up with yourself, but you managed to--from floating to walking to running to sprinting, deeper and deeper, darker and darker, until...A figure emerged from the darkness. As you gaze at them it’s as if you are looking at multiple creatures at once._

_They’re a human about your height with dark hair falling around a pale face and bright silver eyes, a tall figure with a human face above the mouth, that blends into skeletal teeth and jaw with horns crown their head and wings of ashen feathers, or a creature of awesome size, a skeletal dragon skull with many horns and teeth, and a body covered in scales, feathers, and exposed bone, huge claws, burning a with power within its sockets._

_Your souls slips from your chests. Yours is a pale grey-ish white, cracked and shattered and missing pieces but it still held its shape with veins of blood running through the cracks, forcibly keeping it together. It pulsed, nearly cracking itself apart, blood shifting around faster, as if your soul were your heart pumping the blood through veins._

_Their soul, unlike other souls, which were smooth, was like crystal and much smaller than normal souls were. It pulsed silver with hints of blue, shining bright compared to the dim glow of your soul. The two of you walk towards each other, your souls gravitating towards each other, and they reach forward to touch your soul._

_[Don’t touch it.] You say and they retract their hand, the two of you watching as the souls come closer to each other until they’re floating in your hands, circling each other. Your soul seemed to come together more, the cracks and blood less obvious...it felt whole--YOU felt whole or at least more complete, like a missing part of you had returned. They ask why, in a voice, softly echoing in the darkness of the void and you almost feel blood pouring out from your eyes down your mask._

_[I need not tell you. You already know.] You answer. You release their soul and your souls return to your chests. “How is this possible?” they ask. You have no answer for them but you feel a shift in the void, a feeling inside your soul, a tingle along your skin, a jerk of your chains. [I know not. However, I feel we cannot be together for long. I am awakening as are you.] You see their form flicker more towards their more human shape._

_“Will I remember you? Will we meet again?” they ask, a desperation in their voice, a deep sorrow. There’s a new pain in your soul as it aches. [I cannot answer your questions. For i know not. Perhaps...we shall see.] And suddenly your chains are rattling, their sounds echoing louder and louder until they shatter completely, and the void shatters with them._

_You wake up to a dark blackness above you, but there’s a golden glow all around you. You sit up to find yourself in a bed of golden flowers, but the ones you touch seem to shrivel and die only to grow back again in an endless cycle. You are not alone here in this space either. The two souls are all too familiar and are just behind you. You turn your head and find yourself face to face with two identical children. Their glowing red souls pulsing in front of their chests._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment please!
> 
> Stay Determined!


	16. At a Crossroad of Choices pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> continuing on...so much going down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh i should've updated this sooner, but i'm never going to be able to keep a regular schedule....but i'll try not too leave you hanging...
> 
> HERE IT IS!
> 
> As Always thanks for your patience and support: ~400kudos, 80+ bookmarks, ~7370hits

Sans was nervously looking between Grillby, Gaster, Asgore, and Gerson, standing over the body of the masked stranger. Their clothes were full of holes and the bandages that once covered their arms were now loose. Sans got a good look at the scars that littered their body, pale gray against their pale skin: slash marks, bite marks--he twinged at the bite marks-- some looked clean others jagged, but what drew his attention was the gaping open wound in the middle of their chest.

It was dark and red, but no blood flowed out. It was at least 3-4 inches long and maybe an inch or so wide at the widest part, tapering off at both ends. A knife wound? Dagger? The area around the wound was red, as if they’d been burned and it clicked in Sans’s head as he looked over at Grillby. Grillby was pre-war...just like everyone else in the Hall, save for Toriel. They all went through the war, fought in it. Grillby was a General, as was Gerson, Asgore was a prince at the time and also held the position of General when his dad was still alive. Then that left Gaster....

Sans didn’t know what his dad did in the war, but he knew he fought in it. Gaster didn’t like telling stories about himself when he was a babybones...He looked back at the figure, still as a corpse. How were alive? How could they move? Why wasn’t there any blood?... Sans was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice Gerson stepping forward to pick up the body, but as soon as he wrapped his claws around them he let out a loud cry of pain.

Sans was jerked from his thoughts by the multiple cries of **“Garrison!!”** , as Gerson jerked away from the body and grit his teeth, his arms limp at his sides, they even seemed to smoke and seemed charred. W-What the hell!! “T-that was foolish of me...” He said collapsing to his knees. Asgore supported Gerson’s shell, as his father examined the damage. 

_**“7h15 15 v3rY 53r10u5 94rR150n...”**_ (Translation: This is very serious Garrison...) Gaster said CHECKing him, as Sans was. His HP was diminishing slowly, like he was poisoned. “Shit that ain’t good, pops!” He called to his dad, the body forgotten for now. His dad and Asgore shared a look before Grillby came to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Then he turned, his eyelights, somehow looked half-crazed and his sockets still drooped, to Sans and said, _**“D0 n07 70ucH 7h3 wR417h 54n5! bR1n9 7h3 wr417h 70 7h3 b4r bu7 D0 N07 70uCh 7h3m!!!”**_ (Translation: Do not touch the Wraith Sans! Bring the Wraith to the bar but DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!!) And then the four of them disappeared.

Sans was left alone with the body--no “the Wraith”--as his dad had put it. He looked them over again. He lifted the body using his magic and floated them closer to himself and then took a shortcut back to the bar. Papyrus was the first to greet him, immediately swooping him up into his arms like he didn’t weigh anything and he felt his brother’s tears oh his skull. He dropped his magic and the body fell like dead weight onto the floor of the bar, startling the dog monsters.

They crept closer sniffing, curiously, when purple magic engulfed the body and it was whisked into the back room, away from prying eyes. “Hey mutts! If you got time to stare get back out on patrol!!” Undyne barked at them (heh) and they all scrambled out the door without questions. “Papyrus! Put Sans down Alph and the Doc need him. Go check on Tori and Frisk.” 

Papyrus only squeezed him harder, before setting him down and doing as Undyne told him to, but he looked back at Sans the whole time, looking lost and upset. What the heck happened in the few minutes he wasn’t there?! “Sans!” Undyne’s voice rang out. She held the back door open for him, jerking her head inside and giving him the “Hurry the hell up” look with her one eye.

Sans walked past her and into the back, past the kitchen and into the backroom, where “the Wraith” was laid out on the floor in the corner and Gerson lay on the bed. He was grimacing, as Gaster and Alphys checked over his arms. “t-this i-isn’t a-a-anything i’ve e-ever se-seen before, D-dr. Gaster...” Alphys says, bandaging Gerson’s claws.

 _ **“N0, p3rh4p5 n0t 4lpHy5...”**_ (Translation: No perhaps not alphys...) His dad murmured. The room lasped into tense silence. Sans hung back as Grillby brought out some Sea Tea and Golden Flower Tea, by the smells of it. He set a mug of Sea Tea by Gerson and handed one to Undyne, while giving Gaster, Alphys and Asgore Golden Flower Tea, he also handed Sans ketchup. “thanks grillbz yur da best.” he said, chugging at the bottle.

Sans leaned onto the wall by Undyne, as Alphys took a Seat on the open space on the bed by Gerson and Gaster, slumped onto the floor. Asgore sat in the only chair in the room and Grillby stood next to him. Everyone took a moment to enjoy their drinks before Asgore spoke first, “You all know why it is you are here, so I will get straight to the point. That thing you see in the corner is not human, though they may appear to be.”

Sans, Undyne, and Alphys turn to the Wraith. “That was--is known as the Blood Wraith.” Undyne seems to register the name. “What?” she says nearly breathlessly. **“That is THEM? That’s the--the fucking reason that we--”** Undyne’s hands crackled with her magic as she roughed pointed at the Wraith. 

“Yes Undyne. That is it.” Asgore confirms grimly. He turns to look at the Wraith, and Sans had never seen so much sadness and grief and anger in his gaze. “How it has survived all these years I can only speculate---” _**“y0u 54w wH47 h4pP3n3d y0uR m4j357y.”**_ (Translation: You saw what happened your majesty.) his dad interrupted.

They broke out into an argument, but Sans wasn’t listening. He tuned out their voices as he focused on his thoughts. What had Undyne been suggesting? That they were pre-war, just like everybody else? That would make them centuries old at least!! No human could’ve lived so long!--but Asgore had said they weren’t. Then what were they? And those scars...for some reason his skull ached looking at them, like--like he’d forgotten something important...

_He was small, and he bit into the danger’s arm, in warning. His teeth cutting deep enough to draw blood. It was thick and hot in his mouth, but he felt fingers flit over his head and horns and he let go._

_He bit them again, the red stranger and they spoke to him, but he didn’t understand._

He slumped down onto the floor, and he feels his soul pulse in his chest painfully, his skull hurt and his magic burned in his socket and then all he can see is blurry blue and yellow and red and white. Everything is dark and he can’t feel the ground under his feet and he’s going down--down, deeper and darker--- **“SANS!!”** A voice call him back to reality and out of the tumbling void of his own head.

Papyrus is holding his face close to his. He feels Papyrus’s gloves on his skull, sees Papyrus’s face, his right eye a glowing orange, he smells the bar, feels the wood beneath his bones, feels the grip he has on Papyrus’s scarf and bones. He feels several hands touch his forehead and back, sees Alphys trembling and standing off to the side of his vision. He can feel all of the monsters’ souls, some worried, some concerned, some weary...

“Brother, Can You Hear Me? See Me? Are You Alright?” Papyrus asks, rapid fire questions getting faster until they’re inaudible. His soul pulses the strongest, speaks the loudest. His baby brother, his other half.... He presses his skull back into Papyrus’s and holds his brother’s left hand, tighter. “Yea pap. ‘m ok...” he murmurs. 

Papyrus returns his grip and nuzzles his skull into his. “You scared me Sans. I could feel your distress all the way upstairs.” He said. “sorry, papyrus.” Sans answered. “This is all so much in one night Sans...what’s going on?” he tentatively asked. “I don’t know bro. Not all of it yet anyway. Dad...let’s just say dad hasn’t told us some stuff.” he said, unsure.

Papyrus pulled back. “Why Would Father, Keep Things From Us?” The bone between his sockets was pinched in confusion. Sans shrugged, “dunno pap. How long was i out?” he asked, looking around the empty bar. “When did you bring me here anyway?”

“You Weren’t Unconscious For Long Brother. Only Half An Hour...But It...You Felt Like You Were..Like Before” Sans noticed the hands had disappeared and Gaster now stood beside them. The brothers let go and stood up carefully, facing their dad. Sans felt something almost snap within himself--something almost feral...

“dad what the h e l l is going on?” Sans demanded. His fists were clenched and he all but glared at Gaster. _**“54n5 pl3453--”**_ (Translation: Sans please--) He takes a deep breath. “dad, i’m pretty sure that all of us in the hall saw them literally come back to ‘life’.”. His left eye sparks with magic, he’s pretty sure he’s over-reacting, all of the night’s events finally catching up to him. 

Gaster runs a hand over his face, lingering over the cracks. _**“7h3r3’5 4 l07 1 h4ve n07 70lD y0u, bu7 pL3453...n07 70n19h7. 50 muCh h45 h4pp3n3d 4lr34dY. Pl3454 4lL0w m3 50m371m3, 4nD 1---1 Pr0m153 70 73lL y0u, 3v3rY7h1n9.”**_ (Translation: There’s a lot I have not told you but please...not tonight. So much has happened already. Please allow me some time, and I--I promise to tell you, everything.) Sans’s socket’s widened, surprise taking over the sudden anger he had before. When was the last time his dad ever promised anything?

“fine i got it, let get back in there then.” he said. Gaster nodded. “Flowey was brought down several minutes ago to tell his side of the story of how the human rescued Frisk.” Papyrus interjected. Sans looked over to him and Papyrus had an almost frustrated look on his face, his hands clenched into fists and his tone almost tense.

He started walking to the backdoor. “pap, where ya goin’?” “To The Room Sans.” _ **“P4PyRu5...”**_ (Translation: Papyrus) Gaster said in that, almost scolding fatherly tone. “pap this is heavy stuff...” “SO WHAT?!” he shouted. He looked angry now. “YOU ALWAYS DO THIS! ALL OF YOU. I AM NOT A BABYBONES. YOU--YOU ALWAYS SHUT ME OUT!!! BACK IN THE UNDERGROUND, EVEN UP HERE!!” Sans was stunned at his outburst, as was Gaster.

“You Never Let Me In. You Think I Don’t See It But I Do. You’ll Let Me Open Up To You But You Never Let Me Do The Same. What Are You So Afraid Of? What Could Possibly Be So Secret That You Won’t Open Up To Me?” Papyrus was tearing up, angry frustrated tears.

“pap i--” “SAVE Your Excuses, Sans.” He bites back and Sans shuts his mouth. “I’m-I’ll Just Go Upstairs. I’m Not Needed Here.” Those words seemed to stab into him. He walked to the stairs but paused by Gaster. “I Hope You’ll Keep Your Promise Father.” He says before heading upstairs, leaving Sans in painful, stunned silence.

Gaster guides him back into the back room without a word.

\- - - -

Fuku stirred slowly. She sat up slowly and a familiar hand helped her sit up. “D-dad?” her voice was barely there. “Fuku.” was her dad’s relieved reply and she was swept up in his embrace. She hugged back just as close. She remembered falling as someone landed above her. The face, the masked face of the stranger and a deep sense of sadness in her soul, an old grieving so low and forlorn she had collapsed under the pressure and intensity of it all.

It was heart-breaking and jarring and she cried silent tears into her dad’s nice white shirt, staining it with blue fire. “W-what happened?” she asked. She looked around. “Where’s Iko?” she said more alert and urgent. “She’s gone home, she’s safe. Sans escorted her home. Everything is...alright.” She loosened her grip to look directly at her father, his flames still shifted colors, but was otherwise eerily calm. 

She’s knows when he is upset. “Dad what’s wrong?” There’s a heavy creeping cold feeling she can’t place and an echo of the solitary grief in her soul, dimming her flames. Someone knocks on the door of her room. “Grillby, Gaster has situated..our guest and we’re waiting for you.” Asgore’s voice rumbles through the door.

Fuku notices that his tone drops to a near growl at the word “guest”. Grillby pulls away but she hold onto a bit of his shirt. “What’s going on?” she asks. He takes her hand and cups her face. “I’ll explain later, Fuku, but please rest some more.” He pulls away and straightens. “Are you hungry at all?” She shakes her head. He leaves the room before she can stop him.

She runs a hand through the flames on her head, exasperated. She shifts her blankets and slowly eases herself off the bed. She carefully stands, stumbling a little, using her desk chair to keep herself upright. She stands there for a few moments, willing the dizziness that came with standing to settle before, shakily, moving towards the door. She opens it as quietly as possible to an empty hallway. But there are voices coming from down the stairs towards the bar and before she can move to the stairs the door to guest room, which she and her dad only ever used for storage opened. Papyrus pokes his skull out and waves her closer.

She walks over to him and he shifts the door, open more to reveal the room now has the old bed from the downstairs bar, situated at by the small window, and on it lay the masked stranger, still as a corpse, covered in a blanket up to the manacle around their neck. Toriel is sitting in a chair at the side of the bed and Frisk is curled up in her lap, with one of their hands clenched into the sheets of the old bed.

“Are You Alright Now Fuku?” Papyrus asked, snaps her attention away from the stranger. She’s never seen him so serious before, his usual smile has slipped and he’s almost clenching his teeth hard enough for her to hear the bone grind. She nods, and he hesitates before letting her into the room further. The walls are stacked with boxes, and the window is slightly ajar to let in air. She finds that no one else is in the room other than her, Toriel, Papyrus, Frisk and the stranger. She steps forward until she is at Toriel’s side. 

She’s petting Frisk’s head as they sleep, and looking closely Fuku sees that the costume they’re wearing looks exactly like the stranger’s. Toriel looks to her and lifts an arm out to her, which Fuku steps forward to take her hand. “Hello Fuku dear. How are you feeling?” Toriel looks over her as if trying to find anything wrong. 

“I’m fine Your Majesty.” she says, making her flames glow a bit to prove her point. Papyrus gives her the other chair, he was most likely using. “I’m Glad You Are Alright. Grillby Has Been Worried. I Was Going To Make You My Special Spaghetti For When You Woke Up, But Your Kitchen Lacked The Proper Ingredients And I Had To Watch Her Majesty And The Tiny Human Until Everyone Returned And--” he gets faster and faster as he speaks.

“Papyrus, dear. It’s alright.” Toriel coos. Fuku let go of Toriel’s hand to wrap her arms around Papyrus. “It’s ok, Papyrus. I can have your spaghetti next time. Are you ok, though?” Papyrus wraps both arms around her and “nyeh”’s. “The Great Papyrus Is Alright, But The Tiny Human Has Yet To Awaken Since They Came To This Room.” Fuku looks up to Toriel in silent question.

Toriel sighs heavily, looking tired. “My child wanted to see them as soon as possible. So when the others returned they put them here, where it’s more or less... comfortable. They were previously downstairs in the back room, but all of us could not fit in that room so we moved up here. Please excuse our intrusion, dear.” Fuku shook her head, while she looked at the stranger, unmoving on the bed. She gripped Papyrus’s boney arms, crossed over her shoulders, as he rubbed her shoulders.

She gestured for Toriel to continue. “Everyone else is down in the bar, talking...discussing what we should do. Flowey was taken with them. He has already explained what happened to myself and Paprus. He is our witness for what the others are discussing at the moment.” Her voice is tight and clipped, obviously upset to not be there. She also felt Papyrus tense and she looked up to see the bone pinches between his sockets.

“...what else happened?” she quietly asked. “Who ARE they?” She looked over at the stranger. Papyrus perked up as well. “Yes Your Ma--Toriel. Who Is This Human?” Fuku stared at Toriel’s hard expression, as she seems to be pondering over what to say. “It’s not a happy story, dears. Would you still wish to hear it?” She asks cautiously. 

Fuku nods her head and Papyrus says, “Yes.” Before Toriel can start talking though there’s a knock at the door, and then Alphys slips her way in, softly closing the door behind her. There’s muffled yelling coming from below. “Dr. Alphys? What has happened?” Toriel asks. Dr. Alphys’s glasses are gleamed over and she seems more downcast than usual. Fuku sees that her medical bag is in her claws, which shake slightly.

“I-i-i’m t-to e-examine t-t-he W-w-” She gulps before continuing, “A-asgore has---” and Toriel sighs, interrupting her. “Very well, proceed.” Alphys drew closer to the bed and only then does she jump back when she sees Fuku. “o-oH! F-fuku, h-how a-are you f-feeling?” she asks, setting her bag down on the edge of the bed. 

For the briefest moments Fuku felt her soul twitch, when Alphys pulled the blanket away from their arm. Fuku’s eyes widened at the crisscrossing scars, exposed by torn bandages. The scars were varying shades of gray against their skin, cuts of various thickness and lengths, rows of small teeth, as if they were attacked by dogs...Fuku tightened her grip on Papyrus’s arms as he squeezed her shoulders. Dr. Alphys’s claws shook as she reached for the stranger’s arm, but when she finally grasped it she dropped the needle and let go of their arm quickly. She backed away shakily and kept shaking her head, holding her claw to her chest as if stung.

Papyrus let go of her to see what was wrong with Dr. Alphys, while Fuku stepped closer to the stranger and before anyone could stop her she took their hand in hers. Her hand prickled and then it was if thousands of needles were stabbing into her arm as well as shocks of electricity and heat and freezing cold. The feeling ran through her body the longer she held their hand, but despite the pain, there was something deeper... _A surge of powerful emotions instantly shook her to her soul. There was a paralyzing fear, that threatened to buckle her legs, a seething explosive rage, just on the edge of snapping, sorrows so deep and dark, she felt tears pour down her face in streams. She heard crying--no she heard wailing of many voices, crying out for Mercy and salvation._

_She was being held in something cold, but the cold was ripped away and she was placed in the embrace of something warm and hard, there was wind, and dust and the smell of something sour and she cried._

_A smooth voice lulled her to sleep._

She was ripped away from their hands and into the embrace of her father. She knew it was him but she was so overwhelmed. She could barely keep track of what was going on. She could barely hear, barely move, barely talk, but everyone was crowded into the room again, they were yelling, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

She felt herself be picked up and taken back to her room and placed down on her bed. Her father kissed her forehead. He sat by her bed and held her hand. She squeezed his hand back as much as her aching body would allow her, shaking to her SOUL. 

She didn’t notice how her father’s soul seem to ache with old anger and grief, his flames nearly unmanageable, but he held her hand anyway.

\- - - - -

Undyne had taken Alphys out of the room, away from the chaos, she was nearly she sat in a catatonic state. Toriel had tried to stop Fuku from touching the human on the bed but she too was taken from the room. Any yet despite all that, Papyrus was focused on the many scars of their arm. It hung off the bed in front of him, all of the scars exposed by the ripped bandages. His soul was beating in his chest and his skull started to ache as flashes of images flickered in his head. 

_He was small, and he bit into the danger’s arm, in warning. His teeth cutting deep enough to draw blood. It was thick and hot in his mouth, but he felt fingers flit over his head and horns and he let go._

_He bit them again, the red stranger and they spoke to him, but he didn’t understand._

**“papyrus!”** He was shaken out of his skull by Sans, grasping at his cheekbones and eye-lights flitting around his face. His brother was sweating and his left eye sparked and he felt his spark orange in response. He was breathing heavily and so was Sans. He gathered Sans into his lap-- but when had he slumped to the floor?

“Papyrus, dear are you alright?” Toriel asked, leaning over in her chair, carefully. He just breathed in the scent of his brothers jacket: old ketchup, books, his spaghetti. He rubbed his hands over the fabric of his gloves and Sans jacket. Sans gripped onto his scarf just as tight. He felt their father come behind him and stroke their skulls, gently in his hands, but he said nothing. Papyrus felt his void matter around his boots though and the feel of Sans’s and his father’s souls, calmed him down.

“The H-human They Ar--” “they ain’t human pap.” Sans said. Papyrus pulled back in their embrace to look at his brother. “B-But Sans...” He looked from the strange human back to his brother. “If The Human Is Not A Human Like Frisk, Who Are They?” he was confused and frazzled. He looked back to his father, who had a troubled expression on his partially melted skull. (He would later notice that his father’s state of being was due to the stranger’s presence)

“Father, Brother Please--PLEASE Tell Me What Is Going On.” He desperately demanded. Behind his father, King Asgore stood with his trident in hand. “Papyrus--” “NO Your Majesty.” He stood up, letting go of Sans. “I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. I’M TIRED OF BEING LEFT IN THE DARK AND LEFT OUT.” he huffed and crossed his arms, nearly glaring at the King. He, his father, and his brother looked stunned, while Toriel kept staring at the stranger.

 _ **“v3rY w3lL, mY 50n...”**_ (Translation: Very well, my son....”) “gaster--” _**“n0 54n5. P4pYru5, h45 45 MuCh 0f 4 r19h7 70 kn0w 45 y0u d0. 45 h3 h45 541d pR3v10u5lY, h3 15 n07 4 b4bYb0n35 4nym0r3.”**_ (Translation: No Sans. Papyrus has just as much of a right to know as you do. As he has said previously he’s not a babybones anymore.) Papyrus watched as Sans and Gaster stood off. There was a scraping of a chair and Toriel brought it to her and patted the seat for him. She wore a kind, but tired smile. He sat down next to her, but continued to glower at his family. 

“This is the Blood Wraith, Papyrus.” Toriel said quietly. He head turns so fast to her that his vertebrae give a loud “POP”. “tori...” She silences Sans with a look and continues on, ignoring mumbled protests. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard the old story, but in the beginning of the Underground, we told stories--war stories of battle, those of us who were willing to talk about it. We documented everything then, as much as possible. The Blood Wraith was one such legend.” She looked back to him, an old sorrow in her deep purple eyes, glistening with tears. 

“It is still painful to remember, but I will give you the shortest version. It was sometime during the beginning of the 7th year we were at war with the humans. I was just a healer then, but the few soldiers that came back, came back on the verge of Falling, muttering about a demon in a cloak of blood and a mask of dust. This continued more and more, our numbers dwindled and that was mostly due to them.” 

“And This IS Them, Isn’t It?” He looked to the stranger on the bed. “Yes, dear. This is them. One of the reasons the Seven Mages were able to seal us Underground, one of the reasons monster-kind had dwindled down into the thousands, one of the Remnants of the War long past. The Blood Wraith.”

It was uncomfortably quiet in the room then. A tension thick enough to cut with a knife and a sense of foreboding dread lay heavily on his shoulders. He looked back to the Wraith, still as death on the bed. There was no movement of breathing. Papyrus sits up and walks up to the bed and he hears everyone shift behind him as he soaked in the information.

He hurriedly pulls away the blankets and finds that their clothes are now riddled with holes, and the bandages have been torn and have come loose, showing the multitude of scars all over their body. The most noticeable was the gash in the middle of the chest, it was an open wound. His hand hovered over the wound.

When all of a sudden a cold, scarred hand grabbed his gloved one.

\- - - - -  
Bonus: (Exerpt from _The War Long Past_ by: **[Redacted]** )

“Beware O soul, the battlefield of death  
For there your fate will be met  
For it came, a mantel of blood, a mask of dust.  
Alone, shambling as a corpse at dusk  
A demon, a spectre, that no eye should see  
Not man nor monster dared to flee  
Trapped in the darkness that was its gaze  
Its purpose to all but raze  
Magic and metal not could fell  
That which came from the depths of Hell  
No soul in its path was safe from their fate  
All fell at the hands of the Blood Wraith”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yup i'm doing this to you again >:3 you know me~
> 
> anybody drawing any connections yet? ;)
> 
> Leave me a comment please! Feedback is appreciated also tell me if there are errors!! (please)


	17. In Dreaming Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dreams..memories...where does the line blur?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> same shit different day  
> or is it different shit, same days...
> 
> anyway thanks so much for your patience and support: 450+kudos, ~100 bookmarks, 8400 hits
> 
> here we go

_The child you know as “Frisk” is surprised, their mouth a small “O” and their eyebrows disappearing into their bangs, while the other child, whom you guess to be “Chara” as the Flower, or “Asriel” said. Chara is looking at you like many others have before, with suspicion and anger._

**“Ho--Wh-What are YOU doing here?!”** _They ask._

_You see them take a defensive step forward, but Frisk runs around them towards you and only stops when they’re mere steps away from you. You shift into a kneeling position and the flowers where you legs once were have gone back into their normal golden shine and bloom, the ones you touch start to die underneath you. The child stares, unafraid, at you._

_This close you can feel their soul...powerful...old...familiar...“Frisk” places a hand over their chest. “Chara” stalks up behind them, their soul, a deep bloody red...old...worn...but no less powerful. [I have come, in accordance with the promise.] You speak carefully, choosing your words in a way they may understand you. The old tongue had been forgotten by humans long ago, however..._

“What do you mean?” _says a quiet voice you’ve never heard. “Wait, Frisk! You understand what they’re saying?!” Or perhaps not. Frisk looks between you and Chara, rapidly moving their hands, as Chara watches. While the two are distracted, you reach forward and tap Chara’s forehead._

[Thou art a young soul, but an old soul,  
Recall the ancient tongue, the words of old,  
Long forgotten with time!]

**“What...? What did you do?”** _They stagger back, as if dizzy. You turn your attention back to Frisk. [I speak an old tongue.] Chara’s red eyes widen in surprise._ **“You put a spell on me so I could understand what you’re saying?”** _You nod at them._ “Why are you here? How are you here?” _they ask, still unsure and confused._

_[I have come, in accordance with the oath.]_ “Oath?” _they question and you nod once more. [Near an age ago, I was bound by the Seven into an oath of servitude. The Seven are my Masters, and you, child, are my Master incarnate, born after many a lifetime...Masters Percival, Intergra, Patience, Kindred, Justine, and Braig have passed onto the next cycle. Thus I have come to serve you Master Will, as the last of the Seven in the current cycle, to fulfill the oath.]_ /p>

“Are you talking about the other six souls?” _Frisk asks, incredulous, but you could see them starting to understand what is going on._ **“Cycles? Like life and death? Reincarnation?”** _Chara asks, putting pieces together._

_[I have always and evermore shall be connected to you, Master Will] You cross your right hand over your chest, resting over the spell seal, while the other fists into the flowers, slowly killing them. You’re looking up at the two though your head remained bowed._

_**“WHAT?”** Is their twin response. The two of them begin to bicker among themselves, their voices becoming a tumble of emotions: apprehension, surprise, disbelief, fear...--_ **“This has never happened in any of the previous RESETs or LOADs!! What the hell---”** “Every RESET has been different. This timeline is---” _You felt the pulses of their souls, powerful in identical wavelengths. They washed over you in waves. Familiar and yet new._

_This would get you nowhere. You had one option left. You fully kneel, both knees in the flowers and you press both hands to your chest and pull out your own soul. It’s an ashen gray, littered in deep black cracks, and there were visibly missing pieces. Blood, flowed in and out of the cracks, holding your soul together like glue and filling in the holes of what was missing._

_The two of them instantly stop talking, overwhelmed by the pressure of your soul, but you rein in its power. They stumble into the flowers, eyes trained on you again, you see them shake. [If words shall not convince you, I will show you.] You take your knife in hand and slice into your arm and drip it over your soul._

_The blood retreats into the depths of your soul, leaving it open, the cracks visible. You push it to the children. [See.] Is all you say._

\- - - -

_When the stranger had arrived, Frisk wasn’t afraid, but somehow nostalgic, whereas Chara was defensive and guarded. They could understand the words they spoke, despite being certain they’d never heard the language in their life. As they explained, Frisk felt something in their soul, like they weren’t lying. They couldn’t know what the stranger’s intentions were, wearing the mask to conceal their face, there was almost no emotion in their words. They felt sad and lonely. Frisk pitied them, there was this sense of familiarity and understanding, a grudging acceptance._

_Chara seemed left in the dark, freaking out,_ **“I don’t trust them, as much as I hate to admit that I’m grateful for what they’ve done...They’re dangerous. They have so much power, I’ve seen it first-hand. What I-We did in Genocide runs couldn’t possibly compare to the LOVE this guy may have...! They’ve also never shown up before! THIS has never happened in any of the previous RESETs or LOADS! What the hell is going on?!”** _Something was off about Chara. They were freaking out. There was fear and apprehension in their soul._

“Every RESET has been different. This timeline is different. You know it. I know it.” _They try to reason. Then they realize..._ “Chara!” **“What?”** _They snapped._ “The buttons...” _Their eyes meet as if a light bulb had been gone off in both of their heads._ **“The buttons were breaking...”** “They’ve been breaking...” _They turn towards the stranger just as they pull out their soul._

_Frisk felt an overwhelming power pressing on them for a few moments and then nothing. They stared at the shattered soul in front of the stranger. It was the color of dust, broken, held together by swirling magic like blood---no it WAS blood. It was horrible to look at, horrible to see, but Frisk couldn’t look away. Their soul felt like someone had stabbed through it, with how much it hurt. They clutched the front of their sweater. The stranger took a knife and sliced into their arm and as their blood dripped onto their soul the blood around it disappeared, revealing all of the deep rents and missing pieces, it was barely held together._

_[See.] Is all they hear before their soul is pushed towards themselves and Chara. Frisk’s soul immediately goes to meet it, despite the pain, Chara’s soul follows not long after. The three souls circle each other and Frisk feels themselves being pulled in somewhere._

_They’re free-falling through and endless darkness._ “Chara!!” **“Frisk!”** _Frisk can see Chara and the two of them reach for each other, missing several times, before clasping their hands tightly together, interlocking their fingers, until they’re fall slows and they’re standing on solid ground of a dark cave._

_There’s little light, save for the dim glow of torches and the glowing red of a spell circle, with a body covered by a sheet at the center. Many cloaked figures stood behind the ring of pillars that surrounded the circle. The figure in the middle rose from under the sheet. Pale and emaciated. Their ribs and hip-bones clearly visible. Their snow white hair was matted and dirty. There was a large wound in their chest and a deep scar across their face, tracing from cheek to cheek, old fading red scars traced their arms and legs and shoulders._

_Frisk was sure there were more on this person’s back as well. Their eyes and Chara’s eyes widened at the familiar shackles on the person’s neck, wrists and ankles, but glowing chains appeared and attached themselves to the restraints and bloody red eyes opened, blood pouring down their cheeks and into their wounds. A mouth full of sharp jagged teeth opened to let out a blood chilling scream._

**“Holy sh*t.”** _Chara said, finding their voice once again. They nod in agreement, and they find themselves in some kind of prison. The figure from before is even more familiar with a broken mask with two bloody streaks, but they now wore a red cloak, like blood. A dark hooded figure comes by the dusty cell. “These used to be filled with monsters, now only one is left. How pitiful.” the cold voice of a man echoes in the empty stones halls._

_Frisk watches as he is slammed into the bars of their cell, glowing chains appearing from nowhere and once again there’s screaming. The scene changes again to the stranger, restrained with their glowing chains, kneeling before a king. The throne room is grand with banners, and tall ceilings and crystal windows, a dark robed-man bowed down to him._

_[My King, as per thy requests, I hath created the means to thy victory in this war.] Frisk felt their skin crawl at his words. [Proceed.] the King dismissed him. [As you command my king.] The cloaked man left the room, the stranger following quietly. The scene shifts and they’re in a larger circular room._

_The stranger is kneeling down before seven figures, each one wearing a different colored cloak this time: red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, and purple._ **“These are...”** _Chara doesn’t finish in awe. The two of them can feel the power radiating from the cloaked figures. They both knew who these were. The Seven Mages. The_ first _Seven Mages. [The poor SOUL...] The Green Mage says. [How could our own betray us?] The Yellow Mage says. [We hath no other choices, brother!] the Purple Mage says [I refuse to commit such a thing!] The Blue Mage says. [ENOUGH.] The Red Mage says, pulling a elegantly carved blade from his belt, slicing into his arm. [Brother NO.] The Light Blue Mage tries to stop him. He steps up to the stranger, grasping their chin and looking into their bloody eyes. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, I am called William.] He puts his wrist to their mouth and they drink._

[For blood of thine shall be blood of mine  
To serve and protect for all of time  
For I am thine and thy for me  
As I will, so mote it be.]

_A spell circle appears over their chest, glowing bright with a single red heart at the top and one solid red line at and angle, words wrap around the circle. [If we art to make this broken one our soldier, we may still hath HOPE yet. Our own may hath betrayed us, but that shall not stop our goals.] His hood fell back to reveal, deep brown-red hair and striking red eyes. [What say ye, brothers, sisters?]_

_Even Chara and Frisk could see the glaring red of his soul, commanding and strong. The other six threw back their hoods as well, revealing their faces. The Orange Mage steps up next, he is a broad man with fiery hair and fierce orange eyes. He steps up to William and takes the blade from his hands, slicing into his own arm. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, sworn of our William, I am called Braig.] And he repeated the binding spell while giving them his blood. Another heart and another line appeared this time in orange._

_He turns to his brothers and sisters, his orange souls burning bright with bravery, stubborn and strong. The Yellow Mage goes next, taking the blade from her brother. Her long golden hair is braided and her golden eyes flash with challenge at her brothers. She, too slices into her own arm, offering it. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, sworn of mine brothers, I am called Justine.] She repeated the spell and then stood away with her siblings. And yet another heart and another line, in golden yellow._

_The Green Mage came forward, taking the blade from his sister. His wild black hair was cropped short and his green eyes were near in tears, as he cut into his arm and repeated the words and spell, while offering blood. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, sworn of mine brothers and sister, I am called Kindred.] He hands the blade off to the Light Blue Mage as she stepped up to his shoulder. She steadies him, before handing him off to Braig. A green heart and line have appeared._

_The Light Blue Mage has long straight dark brown hair, and sky blue eyes, she smiles in regret as she slices into her arm. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, sworn of mine brothers and sister, I am called Patience.] The light blue heart and line shine bright, as Patience turns to her sister, the Blue Mage. She has curly dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, but she too goes and takes the knife. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, sworn of mine brothers and sisters, I am called Integra.] A blue line and heart appear._

_The last brother, comes forward, his pale blonde hair a contrast to his purple eyes. He too slices his arm and repeats after his siblings. [Broken SOUL, given to us by our dark brother, sworn of mine brothers and sisters, I am called Percival.] The spell was cast a seventh time and a seven pointed star now glowed white, while the hearts burned with color._

_The Seven linked hands around the stranger. There’s a flash of light and an intense power surging around the room and Frisk and Chara feel themselves hurled from the memory and into another._

_They’re floating in the air above a large battlefield. It’s hot and the air is thick with dust, dirt, sweat and blood. Chara quickly wraps their arms around Frisk as they watch as monsters turn to dust under swords, spears, clubs, magic blasts. Human are sliced to bits, beheaded, impaled, reduced to ash by similar methods. The screaming is deafening._

_In the middle of it all, is a large bloody red mass. It’s a swirling bloody bubble of writhing tendrils of blood, some of the end look sharp as blades, slicing through people and tendrils impaling through chests. It was taking in blood and dust, consuming it. Frisk almost threw up, off-balanced and in free fall through the memory and blacking out against a hard surface._

_They came around to the sound of voices and a hard stone floor of a room. The Seven Mages were arguing._

_Justine speaks first, [Thereith be no reason, nor JUSTICE, in this war. Much blood and dust hath been spilt at the hands of ye and the hands of we, the Seven. There still will be more spilt unless something is done.] She is talking directly down at the stranger, still knelt before them._

_Percival speaks next, [We hath started the cycle, we must see to it until the end.]_

_Braig says, [Our own hath suffered, we hath suffer, the beasts suffer. We hath grown cowardly, foolishly. This cannot stand.]_

_Kindred says, [What do ye suppose we do, brother? This hath gone too long.]_

_William says, [We hath done much. None are right. We hath been corrupted, compromised, little can be done to stop what is to come.]_

_Integra cuts in, [We are the Seven, the strongest of the magi, surely there must be something?]_

_Patience one says, [Blood Wraith.]_

_The stranger raises their head in question and acknowledgment, cloaked in bloody red, with bright glowing chains anchoring them to the floor._

_[I hath a task for thee.] She says, her sky blue eyes flashing._

_The scene changes once again._ “Mount Ebbot...” _Frisk says breathlessly. The Seven are standing in a circle in front of the barrier. The “Blood Wraith” watches from afar, as many other witches come to witness the creation of the barrier. There’s a blinding light as the Seven Souls float in front of the barrier and then the Blood Wraith jumps into the spell circle, the souls circle around them, like a halo of Seven lights and then they all shatter into gleaming stars before shooting up into the sky._

_The Blood Wraith is left in the middle of the spell circle, raw power crackling around them. Frisk is blinded by the light, but they still feel the shock-wave reverberates that throws both Frisk and Chara to the ground._

_Then there’s nothing at all. It’s dark, empty, cold. VOID. They wake up to the golden flowers all around them and their soul hovering above their chest. The cracked soul of the Blood Wraith is pulling away, but something tells Frisk not to let them pull away. They grab the soul with their free hand, pulling both themselves and Chara in with them._

_There’s pain. So Much Pain...A burning stabbing feeling in their chest, a deep slash across their face, cheek to cheek, lashes across their back and they scream with the agony._ **“FRISK!!!”** _Chara calls for them, but Frisk sees that they’re also clutching their chest and grimacing. Chara’s hand is still gripped in theirs._

_The scene abruptly changes to a desolate battlefield, corpses and dust lay strewn about with weapons and blood, the pain in their face fades, but their chest burns, like fire. They see two figure fighting in the distance. A bloody, ragged cloaked Wraith and a soldier in armor, but Frisk recognized the head of fire, white mouth open as he let out battle cries, clashing sword against magic._ “Grillby...?”

_Despite the pain, they find themselves in a cave, a different cave, more rocky and natural with a pool of water dripping from the stalactites onto stalagmites. The ragged form of a skeleton lies on a torn piece of cloth by a fire, where two skeleton dragons? Lie next to the skeleton. The skeleton’s skull and hands are bandaged as well as several of their ribs and spine and femur._ **“I-is that...Gaster?...”** __

__

_Just as the bandaged face of Gaster turns to look at them, they feel hands roughly seize them by the collar of the back of their sweater and they’re pulled from the scene...no Memory? They’re back in their field of golden flowers and the broken soul has pulled away from their’s and sunk back into the Blood Wraith’s chest. The Wraith drops Frisk and Chara onto the flowers, their fists are tight at their sides._

_Frisk’s head is spinning from all the newfound information and they feel an ache at the back of their skull. They sit up, clutching their head with one head while the other supports their weight._ “....You knew Grillby and Gaster.” _they say. It’s not a question._ **“You fought in the war, you helped sealed them all Underground.”** _That wasn’t a question either. Chara sits up to glare at them. **“You really are the one from the books, aren’t you? The old legend. The Blood Wraith.”**_

__

_They pause before nodding. [I was called the Blood Wraith, such was the title given to me by my Masters.]_ **“The Seven Mages that created the barrier.”** _Chara slowly got up on shaky legs._ “And you think I’m one of them reborn, William?” _Frisk asks, sitting up further. The Wraith looks sharply at them, the empty holes of their mask suddenly very close to Frisk’s face._

_[I do not “think”, I know. You are my Master Will incarnate. I would not mistake your soul for that of another.] Frisk maintained eye contact with the Wraith. They could feel Chara’s stares._ “Let me see your soul again.” _they said firmly. The Wraith flinches back, hesitant, but they still pull their broken soul from their chest._

\- - - -

_You had taken a risk, showing the child--no the children--the memories. Now it seemed they saw too much. You had intended them to see the bare minimum of what was left, but they saw deeper than you had thought they could. It was too late now, they’ve seen and they will continue to dig out your secrets your deepest memories or what was left of them._

_Even before your ties as master and servant have been formally sealed you could not disobey their order, even if it was a request. You pull your cracked soul from your body and hold it out for them. The memories were agony to see, like you were set ablaze and pierced through with a thousand arrows. But the child simply holds your broken soul in their hands, as if cradling an infant. They’re gentle, not touching it once, as the other child, Chara, looks over the many cracks and gaping holes that go right through the culmination of your being._

_Even though they’re not forcibly looking through your soul, you can feel their stares go right through you, as if reading into you. You watch their souls in turn.Their souls are bright red, Frisk’s is smooth and red like a rose, while Chara’s is darker, like fresh blood, but even you can see the hair-like fractures that go through it, the faintest traces of black cracks that were once there._

_Suddenly words and numbers fill your head:_

**Frisk, The Fallen Child, Angel of the Underground, Ambassador of All Monsters,The Will**  
**LV 1**  
**HP 20**  
**ATK 0**  
**DEF 0**  
**EXP 0**

**Chara, The Fallen Child, 2nd Royal Child of the Underground, Demon of the Underground, The Lingering Will**  
**LV 20**  
**HP 99**  
**ATK 99**  
**DEF 99**  
**EXP 99999**

_You know there’s meaning to the letters and numbers, the intent is not lost to you. Still the children’s souls are much more pure than yours has ever been in nearly a millennia. While you were lost in your thoughts, your soul was released and it floated back to you to sink back into your chest. Frisk was looking at you with fist clenched at their sides while Chara looked at you from beneath their bangs, red eyes locked on you._

**“So what happens now, Wraith?”** _Chara asks. Frisk doesn’t say anything, they only watch you. [That depends.]_ “On?” _Frisk asks. [Whether you will continue on, accepting the promise, or reject the promise.] **“What happens if we refuse?”** they ask together. [If you should refuse, I will seek out the next master. However, the Seven have always been together, thus they have all always come back in each cycle together. If one is not present for the rebirth the rest shall wait for the one.]_ “They’re...waiting for me?” _Frisk asks, their hands relaxing and shoulders slumping._

**“How do you know?”** _You didn’t answer them. This seemed to anger them until Frisk repeated the question. [Master Patience told me of this when i carried out her orders.]_ “The spell when the barrier was formed.” _You nod in response. A silence falls over the three of you. You are unsure of what else you could say--no there was nothing more to say. Your form flickers and you feel your consciousness being pulled back to your own body. It must have finished repairing the damage you had sustained._ "What’s happening?” **“Why are you fading?”** _You don’t answer either of them. [I await your call.] You say bowing to the children as you fade from their mind. **“WAIT!!---”**_

You wake up to Papyrus reaching for you and you catch his hand with yours. All at once, the King had his weapon poised at you, whereas multiple sharp bones appeared above Sans and **him**. Their sockets glowing blue and purple. The skulls were poised at the ready, but you held Papyrus. He stared at you as you shifted into a crouch in a second. There was a window behind you.

You see Frisk stir from Toriel’s lap as she bores holes into you. Then a burst of flames crashes through the door, fireballs in _his_ hands. This distracts everyone enough for you to shove Papyrus away from you and you dive through the window, falling to the sidewalk below. The feel of magic trying to pull you back fades as you slip straight through it. As soon as your feet touch the sidewalk you’re running, but you hear screams, not unlike a war-cry behind you.

Bones and glowing blue spears fly past you only to redirect themselves directly at you and you jump up high into the early morning sky, twisting to face the fish woman, Undyne and Sans. You clench your hands and draw blood from your palms. Your chains spring to life around you curling around and clinking together.

Sans sockets turn to voids and you shoot small drops of your blood at them, missing them entirely as they dodge away and you land where the blood hits the concrete. You stand up as they close in on you. **He** is suddenly there once again. You chains shift and move as you look from face to face, no one making a move, as they circle around you.

They do not notice the blood taking shape beneath your feet until it’s too late. You sink through the spell circle your blood had formed, like a body through water, and you find yourself dropping down right onto the wooden floor in front of the door to the Witch’s Room. You take a moment to breathe in the smell of books and herbs that comes from your sanctuary, then you finally stand up and look up. The spell circle made in blood placed under the overhang of the second floor glows faintly as your blood from the circle you’d created on the street drips back down to you.

The blood is quickly recollected into a ball in your hand. You slip your mask upwards and open your mouth, and swallow the ball whole. You make your way up the stairs and into your dusty room. Once again, you had taken the first step...now you simply had to wait and see what the child would do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its the boys' turns next
> 
> how did that talk go?
> 
> leave me comments please.

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to this Grillby/Gaster/reader fic!! 
> 
> There's not a lot of these apparently: so yeah. 
> 
> This will be a whole different kind of monster.
> 
> So as I've said before:
> 
> Welcome to the ride. I hope you enjoy it! <3


End file.
